Breaking the Surface
by eosdawnaurora
Summary: Sakura is single, burned out and looking for a change of pace, when the last person she expects to, helps her out of her rut. Team 7, set about 10 years in the future, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 into AU-ishness. On hiatus.
1. Prologue: Ripple Away

Ripple Away

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A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

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"That should do it. Be more careful next time."

Sakura had lost count of the number of scoldings she had given to shinobi she had just released from intensive care. Nothing was more useless, but it was a hopeful thought, that there would _be_ a next time. She watched Genma's scarred back as he pulled his shirt back on, and scribbled a few more notes on his chart, _Shiranui Genma, released 5/12 – condition satisfactory, follow-up exam due, one week_.

He nodded. "Thanks, doc," he said. Genma was walking upright and without any sign of pain. Remarkable, considering the spinal injury he had suffered a week ago, while doing a caravan escort for one of the northern Fire Country lords. A powerful missing-nin appeared among the attacking bandits, and Genma was the lucky nin who got the brunt of it.

Sakura saw him casually produce a long toothpick out of nowhere, and fix it at the corner of his mouth. Not unlike Ino's late sensei with his cigarettes, though definitely not as annoying in a hospital setting.

"I owe you one," he said. "Take you out sometime if you're interested." He grinned, his eyebrow cocked.

Scratch that, she thought. Much more annoying. And besides, wasn't he nearly forty? That was almost twice her age. Not that she was even looking. Idiot. But she had to be a professional even if he was trying to cross the invisible barrier between medic and patient.

She smiled, her face neutral. "Let me think about it. I'll see you in a week. Don't take on anything more intense than a C-rank for now, and stay off of the northern border patrols," she recommended. With all the recent unrest on the border, it was impossible to get a shinobi like him to sit still when there was action to be had. She didn't like to lead him on, but she could almost guarantee he'd be back for his exam.

Sakura distractedly cleaned up the examination room after he left, not waiting for the orderly to come in and do it. She knew there were three more patients who needed her attention, and then the inevitable paperwork, and no doubt some emergencies would crop up.

She felt as if she'd lived at the hospital for this past year. Everything important in her life seemed to spring from this place. She had taken over a good portion of the work Tsunade had previously handled, splitting the workload almost evenly with Shizune, they both had their own teams of trainees and were responsible for most of the difficult cases that came in.

Supposedly, this gave the Hokage more time for village issues. Sakura understood now that it was for the best that she remain in a central location, so that her considerable skills would easily be at the village's disposal. Sakura's skills were just as much in demand.

But encounters like this brief one with Genma had been becoming more frequent. The shinobi came in injured, were stuck in bed sometimes for weeks, and had time to be bored and flirt with the staff. She wasn't immune to their attentions. It was mostly the older nin, those who didn't seem to be as intimidated by her reputation.  
How did they all know? Was it really that interesting to other people that she wasn't married or dating anyone?

It occurred to her that most of her friends from her chuunin days had paired off or gotten married. Ino and Chouji had had something of a shotgun wedding when they were seventeen, and not long after, Shikamaru had moved to Suna as a permanent liaison there, and married the Kazekage's sister. It had already been three years since Naruto had gotten his head out of his ass and proposed to Hinata. Sasuke had...

Sasuke had sent her a letter, asking her to meet him for dinner when he got back from his latest mission.

That meeting had been three weeks ago. She'd suspected what was coming. Known what he'd been planning since he'd been brought back to the village, his brother in the grave, eyes half-blind, his spirit as tattered as his clothes.

Had he only just gotten the nerve up to tell her, now that he couldn't turn back without a major loss of face? If he had to be a coward about something, why did it have to be this?

He'd beaten her to the restaurant, waiting at a table fidgeting with his hands. At first he couldn't look her in the face, his black eyes darting around the dim dining area as if looking for a way out. She wondered if Sasuke had even told Naruto yet. Though their friend might have found out another way.

"You look well," he said as she sat down. She heard herself say the same of him, and he did, though still a bit thin and shadowy in the eyes.

"I hope I'm not keeping you from anything." he said, noticing she was still wearing her white lab coat. Luckily, it didn't have any blood on it.

"No, I've got a few hours off. I have a special case coming in for treatment from a few villages away, but he's not due in until later tonight. And if nothing else comes up, I might even get a few hours of sleep." She grinned and sipped at her glass of water. He could stall all day for all she cared, as long as she got to see his face.

"Ah," he said. Sasuke had never been good at making small talk. The waiter came around to take their orders, before an uncomfortable silence had the chance to set in. Sasuke watched the man walk away, and said to her almost absently, "You're strong, Sakura. You know that, don't you? I don't like how Tsunade takes advantage of you."

She looked at him sharply, "What makes you think-"

Sasuke cut her off, as if realizing hadn't said what he'd actually intended to say, "Sakura," he said, and she noticed he was actually looking at her, his face conflicted. "I apologize, that was uncalled for. I am concerned though. I wouldn't be here if I didn't care about you."

She made a noise somewhere between a groan and a sigh. He was going to make it even worse wasn't he? He was going to be honest with her, and attempt to be kind. Why couldn't he just stab her to death and get it over with. Her lips were pressed in a thin line.

"I - I've kept you hanging since that day. I've had to face a lot of things and make some very difficult decisions. This is one of them." Sasuke said, They both knew exactly where this was leading, so she didn't hold back.

"Who is it?" she said calmly.

Sasuke's eyes widened, and he looked as if he'd have been more comfortable if she'd broken out crying, something she might have done a few years ago. Between Tsunade and the battles against Akatsuki and Uchiha Madara, her backbone had grown quite steely. "Who did you settle on?" And perhaps he'd also helped make her heart a bit colder.

Sasuke leaned back away from the table, looking away, running his hand through his unruly black hair, "Please remember I'm not thinking of you or me or anything except my family and of the village. Konoha needs the Uchiha to be strong again, and through this marriage I'm hoping to bring that about. Though it won't be for a few years yet, when she's of age," he said, as the waiter reappeared with a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine, pouring them each a pale measure. She hadn't even realized Sasuke had ordered it.

She waited.

He took a generous drink from his wineglass, "Hanabi, of the Hyuuga," he said.

Sakura was taken aback, "I thought she was betrothed to Neji," she said, swishing her wine around, and then taking a gulp. This was unexpected, but at least it was someone she knew of. Hinata's sister, so this would make Naruto and Sasuke brothers in all but blood. It had a certain element of irony to it.

"I approached her father earlier this year and he spoke with her of it. She agreed, and a contract has been drawn up. Neji was there and seemed indifferent, though he wished us well." He paused, chewing on his lower lip, "The Fifth has given her approval. She said to me that it would be advantageous for the Hyuuga since they're a bit inbred. I can't believe she said that."

Sakura was silent, and her body felt oddly limp. She wondered momentarily if Sasuke knew Neji had once nearly died because of his revenge trip against his brother.

Their meal came and they ate silently, their eyes meeting, averting. She ate about half her salad, and helped Sasuke finish the bottle. They walked out together after he paid, and they wandered in the general direction of the hospital.

It was dark already, the lights and lanterns glowing softly. The air was cool and damp around them, and she could smell the wet pavement and the cigarette and food smell that still clung to them from the restaurant. She knew she should have left as soon as her first glass had been empty. She knew this was only going to make things harder.

Drag things out.

Things.

Who was really the coward here?

She felt his hand slide down her forearm and grasp for her hand. This was a first. Her inner voice screamed, '_OH MY GOD! He has got to be kidding! Oh my god!_'

"Why now, Sasuke?" she said, trying to keep her jaw from clenching.

"I don't know."

"I don't have time for this anymore." She should be walking, running away from him. Every bit of common sense she had was telling her to leave him in the dust.

He pulled her around to face him, and she realized the wine must have gone to her head because she didn't resist. His eyes glittered in the sparse light, "I want to give you something. For what I owe you. What I think of seems patronizing though." He shook his head. He was still gripping her hand tightly.

She wasn't going to be her old pathetic self and say that he didn't need to give her anything. That his time was enough. She could just tell him to go, get away, but she'd been waiting too long for this conversation. It was going to be laid out here or not at all. And she wasn't going to cry. "Tell me."

"I'm giving you half of everything I own, some houses and property outside the village, some old scrolls. I can't take care of it all, and I don't want all of it going to the Hyuuga. Though you can do whatever you like with it." Sasuke searched her face.

She was staring, her mouth slightly open. This was too much. It would never be enough without its essential component. Just let it go. She should just let it go.

"What about the Hyuuga? Aren't they going to complain?" He could be so callous. She wondered if Hanabi had any idea of what she was getting into, binding herself to him. This insensitive jerk was going to break her heart. Sakura realized she was on her way to being part of it if she agreed to this.

"They already own half of the land in and around the village," he shrugged.

"You know I can't take something like that, Sasuke. That's the sort of thing you should give your wife, not your friend. Not your female friend. Everyone will think I'm your mistress. I don't want that, give it to Naruto if you just want to give it away," she said.

"I told you it was patronizing." Sasuke sighed, and bowed his head.

She reached up and touched his face. Well, he'd tried at least. She could feel slight stubble along the ridge of his jaw. Why did it have to be this way? She leaned her head against his chest and he snaked his free arm around her. They'd only been this close a few times.

Sasuke shifted, and he was really holding her, his hand rubbing her back in slow circles, "I really hate this," he said very quietly. "Not you, this feeling. I feel jealous when I see other guys around here look at you in a certain way, and then realize I don't have the right to feel jealous."

She laughed into his chest. "You're just making this worse, Sasuke."

"I don't really know why I'm doing it, either," he said. "I was just going to walk you back to work, and now I don't want you to leave. I don't understand it."

"I think you love me and you want to tell me right now," she said, her hand was in his hair, thick and silky and tangled.

"If I do, I have a really shitty way of showing it." he mumbled against her hair.

"True." This was more than she had expected to get. "And when you let me go, you know you can't hold me like this again."

"Yes." He held her there in the damp darkness for what seemed like a long time. No one she recognized had passed them, but that didn't mean much in a village full of shinobi.

She laughed sadly, "So who are all those guys you're jealous of. You can't just leave me hanging." Maybe it would be good for her to try to go on a few dates. What could it hurt? It couldn't hurt any worse than this.

"You're really going to ask me that?" he said, his head starting up. Sakura smiled, looking in his eyes. She hoped it made his guts twist the way hers were knotting themselves up.

"Tell me, or I'll break your arm," she said.

"Only the ones I approve of," he grumbled, hesitating. "Actually, I can only think of one that I approve of, barely, and that's only because I know him well enough that he would never hurt you."

"Well?"

Sasuke winced, as she pulled his hair a little. "Promise not to punch me."

"I promise. As long as it's not Lee," she said, giving him a stern look.

"Hell no. I was kind of thinking of Kakashi." he said.

"Eh? Since when?" her eyes were wide with disbelief. She never even thought such a thing was possible. She'd never seen him look at anything male or female that wasn't in one of his Icha Icha books, except in a fight. Though she knew perfectly well he used the books to make people think he wasn't paying attention.

He smirked, "Since you started showing off your legs."

She felt herself blush deeply, "You're joking."

"I wish I were. It's kind of weird. But he watches you every once in a while when he doesn't think you're looking. He gets that look in his eye like when he's considering whether or not to kill someone outright or wait until he has a better opening."

"I know that look, and I wish you hadn't told me because now I'm going to be watching for it," she whined and shook her head. That look was scary. He had to be joking. Kakashi was a pervert through and through. If Sasuke was right, he'd been entertaining dirty thoughts about her since she was fifteen.

Kakashi? The same man who had bodily thrown Sasuke and Naruto into a water tanks for nearly killing her during a fight long ago? The cheapskate who had managed to get a free lunch out of every single ninja in the village? _That_ Kakashi? The shinobi whose favorite assassination method was to run at his target and punch a hole through them with lightning? _That_ Kakashi? The dork who refused to take off his mask anywhere he went? _That_ crazy bastard?

"You asked," he said, giving a crooked smile at her expression, and somehow it made her feel a bit better. The fact that Sasuke felt that he was allowed to smile in front of her was no small thing to her. She pulled away from him, and he let go, albeit with reluctance. This was it.

"I've got to go," Sakura said. "You know where I'll be." _You know where I'll be_, she thought, _but I won't be waiting just for you_.

As she picked up the chart for the next patient, she was sucked right back into the present by the name printed at the top.

Hatake Kakashi?


	2. Breaking the Surface

Chapter 1

Breaking the Surface

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A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

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Sakura stripped off her lab coat and threw it in her locker as hard as she could, causing it to fly back at her. Irritated, she stuffed it fiercely onto a hook. Why today of all days did she have to be running late? Even Kakashi would beat her to the practice grounds by at least an hour, and he would have just returned from a mission.

Today had been one time-consuming patient after another. It seemed like every shinobi in the village was intent on catching as many sharp objects with their flesh as humanly possible. Of course, every single one of them wanted _her_ to do something about their slashes and gouges, immediately and all at the same time.

To hell with that, she was off and they weren't dragging her back in.

The weather had been cold that morning, so she grabbed her woolen poncho, which was stuffed between a layer of old magazines and a pair of broken-heeled sandals, and she suspected there was a coffee stain across the front. Oh well, it wasn't like she was going on a date.

Tugging the gray garment over her head, she scurried out of the locker room with only a cursory glance in the mirror. Working at the hospital so much meant that she didn't have a lot of time for herself. She needed a haircut and her nails were a mess, and there might be blood on her face - but the boys had seen her in much worse shape.

Though it had been a year-and-a-half since Tsunade had let her leave the village on a mission, she still needed to stay in top form. The day could come when she'd be needed elsewhere, and have to defend herself and others. Or if the village were attacked again, the gods forbid.

She walked briskly through the corridors, avoiding eye contact with anyone she encountered or waving goodbye. This was the only reason she made it to the main door without being stopped. Then someone on the other side pulled the door open, just as she was pushing it.

"Kinoda-san!" she said, and smiled a little too brightly as she groaned inwardly. Of all the people to run into.

The medic grinned at her, "Haruno-san! I guess you're off then?" he said. Kinoda was dark-featured and good-looking and bright. Sakura had gone on a couple of dates with him, but she was already certain it wasn't going to work. Just like the last three guys she'd dumped after the second date. She'd had such high hopes for them in the begining, too.

"Uh, yes. I've got to meet my old team up at the practice grounds," she mumbled.

She noticed his eyes widen very slightly, as he registered who the members of her old team were. "Sounds like fun. Are you doing anything next Friday though? The new Mori Shizuka movie is out."

She scratched the back of her head. "Ahaha. I don't know. Let me get back to you about that. Bye!" She ducked out of the way, waving behind her as she ran and leaped off and up onto the rooftops. His offer was tempting, since she did want to see the movie, but she'd rather go with Naruto or Kakashi.

It was fun to spend time with them after all. They always had such interesting opinions, Naruto on the fight scenes and Kakashi on the story. Sasuke, on the rare occasion he deemed to watch a film, liked to point out the technical merits of the director and actors. It wasn't exactly that Kinoda was boring... Really, how could he compare to any one of her three teammates?

But they were hopeless. Naruto was married now even if she were interested in him like that, she didn't want to even think about Sasuke after what he'd put her through, and Kakashi was well... Kakashi. She was twenty-two and doomed to be a spinster like her great-aunt Hanako.

She ran out of rooftops and made her way over the hefty branches of the darker, older forested parts of Konoha, finally reaching the tall chain-link fence that surrounded the practice area. Once she entered, she began to mask her chakra, since the boys would probably give her trouble for being late. They'd have to work for it, if they wanted to trap her. She had to be careful once she gained the treetops again, since it was autumn and the turning leaves had the tendency to fall when disturbed.

As she neared the meeting place, with it's packed dirt and three weathered wood pillars, she nearly hopped past a tall silver-haired figure leaning against a tree below. Had he noticed her yet? What was he doing? She stopped for a moment to listen. Sakura could hear Naruto and Sasuke up ahead, arguing about something. Kakashi must be eavesdropping. How funny. Maybe she could catch him by surprise.

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Kakashi walked silently towards the practice grounds over fallen leaves. It was far more difficult than it looked, as masses of dry leaves tended to have abstract arrangements and were louder than grass or water when their surface was broken. It had taken years of practice to acquire this perfect silence of movement, making himself look as if he were casually strolling through the forest. Not that anyone was around to see. Still, it was good to be home.

He was already late for meeting up with his three former students for their bi-weekly group training, but they were perfectly capable of starting without him. Or at least they had begun to, after a few years of living with his penchant for arriving late. He'd been by the memorial already. No new names, thank goodness.

He adjusted his hitai-ate, exposing his scarred left eye, and the always active red of the Sharingan, which would detect far more than his normal right eye. His teammates weren't above ambushing him of late, particularly if they'd had a few hours to prepare, so he looked for the telltale marks of traps.

They were all on such a level with each other that he could be ensured of a good workout. A shinobi needed all the practice he could get, and the jobs were coming in fast now that winter was near. All the nobles wanted their dirty work done before the snow set in.

There was no ambush. Kakashi could sense shinobi nearby doing normal combat exercises, by the chakra they were expending, slightly stirring the energies of the surrounding environment. Soon after, he could hear Naruto shouting epithets at Sasuke, one of which sounded to be on the lines of, 'Is that all you've got you bastard?'

A few moments later Kakashi was hit with a gust of wind, which swept leaves up against his ankles and carried the scent of charred vegetation. One of Sasuke's Katon jutsus. Not something the former missing-nin employed as often these days, as he had been concentrating his energies on learning and improving defensive jutsus - an act of good faith towards the village. He still wasn't up to full strength yet, even after two years of training and healing. It meant the man had to rely more on his wits, but Sasuke was almost as full of surprises as Naruto was.

Sasuke had come back home, for one.

The fallen shinobi had no reason not to, Itachi was dead, though the Akatsuki member had died in rather a different fashion than Kakashi had imagined he would. It might have been suicide, blocking Kabuto's attack on a mortally wounded Sasuke, or it could have been a miscalculation on Itachi's part. Kakashi hadn't been able to see the movements of his enemies, nor hear what had been said. His injuries had been too severe by that point and he'd had to stay out of the fight.

There were still parts of that day in that cave by the border, that only his three friends and the Hokage knew the full story of.

Not that he blamed them for keeping it to themselves. He had his own closet full of shadows and bones, which he was reluctant to impose on anyone. In any case, once Sasuke had proven he was of no harm to Konoha, and his friends had petitioned vigorously for his pardon, the man was permitted to reside within its borders again. Or he remained under house arrest, depending on who you asked.

Kakashi reached the crest of the rise that opened into the practice ground and stopped, leaning back against the rough bark of a tree for a few moments, scratching his covered chin. He could see the two tall, uniformed jounin from where he stood, certain they couldn't see him.

Sasuke stopped to rest, the leaning over and panting heavily, grabbing a water bottle. A few seconds later he tossed one to Naruto, who caught it as he stalked towards his eternal rival.

"What the hell was that earlier?" said Naruto, plopping on the ground in front of Sasuke, arms and legs crossed. "I know you can do better. I've seen you do better." His face was pinched up and full of disappointment.

Sasuke, exasperated, took a long swig from his water bottle, "I have things on my mind. Give it a rest," he said, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

Naruto's face twisted at him in his typical scowl. "Things? You seemed kind of out of it when you were over for supper last night, too. I thought you said you wanted to try to get to know Hanabi. If you sit there silently it's only going to hurt her feelings." Hyuuga Hanabi was Naruto's sister-in-law. Naruto's wife Hinata, complimented him very well, quiet where he was loud, thoughtful where he was impulsive.

Kakashi wondered if Sasuke would be so fortunate, but then it wasn't a love match for his friend. He had heard about Sasuke's recent dealings with the Hyuuga family, and his arrangement to marry Hanabi when she was of age. Kakashi didn't know the girl, but he hoped for her sake that she was patient.

Such marriages weren't uncommon in the Fire Country, but they tended to be rarer in Konoha, mainly because of the large population of shinobi, and their propensity for getting killed in the line of duty. He wished them the best for their future. The man deserved some happiness. If only Kakashi himself wasn't so painfully aware how difficult such a hope was to realize and maintain.

Intimate relationships between active nin tended to be of two types, friends-with-benefits or the sort which resulted from close contact out on the field and which dissipated upon arriving back in the village.

For himself, forming new relationships was risky and at one time he'd thought that having them at all was an avoidable weakness. He was older now and thought a little differently, but was busy enough that he didn't have much time to spend with those who had become close to him. Certainly no time for a lover. He tried though, at least enough to keep the friends that he had.

Now and again, he spent his downtime sparring – like he would today, or being dragged to a meal or a show he had no excuse to get out of with Naruto and Sakura. They were on to all of his tricks for isolating himself. Most of the time they were good at discerning when he really needed to be alone and when he needed to get out.  
Of course, they'd honed their skills on Sasuke, who was possibly a bigger head case than Kakashi would ever be.

"Maybe," Sasuke said, and laid back on the grass. "I don't know how to explain it. It's not so much what I want, but more of what I need. I need a solid foundation with her. I need this to work, not for myself but for those who were lost - hell, for the village, even you can understand that. What I want shouldn't be in conflict with that, but I'm still feeling uncertain. I look at her and wonder if there's something I might be missing. You wouldn't understand, everything is so simple for you."

"It's not like you've married Na-chan already, you can still back out. Nobody is going to think any less of you if you do. I won't." The yellow-haired nin shrugged, looking around the field, plucking at the stems of grass around him.

Kakashi realized that Naruto had completely let go Sasuke's veiled snipe at Naruto's home life. Coincidentally, that was likely Hinata's influence rubbing off on Naruto; he was much more careful these days about choosing his battles, and had been slower to anger since he'd married. Kakashi could easily see how a gentle woman like Hinata would be an agent of calm. He recalled also, that though Naruto and Hinata had come together on their own, it had been difficult to convince her family to allow them to marry because of the Kyuubi. One child and an intervention by the Godaime later, the pair had more or less taken matters into their own hands.

"No, no I can't." Sasuke sat up quickly and glared at Naruto.

"What happened?" Naruto must have seen something in the man's eyes, for he laughed loudly all of a sudden, "I get it. I know what it is."

Sasuke glared at him, "You couldn't possibly under-"

"Fuck, Sasuke, just let her be happy already! When Sakura told us a few weeks ago about that guy Kinoda she met at the hospital, you were being all supportive, and now you've had time to think and you're jealous. You let her go and you can't stand it she's moved on. Your fat ego can't stand it she's over you." Naruto was bent over, shaking in laughter where he sat. "God you're an idiot."

In a split-second, Sasuke jumped on Naruto and planted a fist in his laughing face. Naruto wrestled free and leapt back holding his bruised mouth, still laughing, a small trickle of blood on his lip. "That's more like it!" yelled Naruto, rushing him. Kakashi couldn't help but think, as he watched their brawl, that it was a dead-on accusation.

If Sasuke hadn't figured out yet that letting a girl like Sakura go, was one of the biggest mistakes in his life, he'd realize it soon enough. Kakashi wondered if she had really moved on. Although, why did it matter to him?

Where was Sakura anyway? The kunoichi was as punctual as the sunrise. She was supposed to teach him that earth jutsu she'd learned from one of her elderly patients. Kakashi grinned to himself. It was probably something at the hospital. She was skilled and had a light touch, so she was in high demand. Still, he was glad he hadn't been injured recently. He couldn't stand being in the hospital for any length of time.

He made to approach the brawling pair, when he sensed someone inches from making a thrust at his neck. He twisted around and his kunai scratched the skin over the cording of her jugular; at the same time he felt a prick to the most susceptible point under his chin, ready to be rammed into his brain. His other hand had her opposing wrist held up hard against a tree trunk forcing her to drop a kunai, and he managed to pin the rest of her against the tree with the length of his body.

No wonder he hadn't seen her approach, she was wearing an ash-gray cloak against the cold, which blended much better with their surroundings than the red and white clothes beneath. Also, her distinctive pale hair was covered by a hood, now minorly slashed, a few pink strands decorating the length of the cloak. She'd been well camouflaged for prowling in the trees above him and was also masking her chakra.

"Close, but not close enough," he said, his eyes fixing hers in a mocking glare.

Sakura grinned, "I waited too long. I wanted to hear what you thought was so interesting," she said playfully. Then something changed in her expression; at that moment he realized he had leaned in a little further than was necessary.

Oops. He'd invaded her personal space too long, and she was going to slip off and kick his ass. Or at least she was going to try.

But instead of what he expected, her body tensed under him, her eyes wide, cheeks flushed.

Oh hell - way too vulnerable. And then something else.

In that moment he was certain she had the same thing going through her head as he did. She wasn't off-limits anymore. This was the sort of situation you only read about in the pages of a book, particularly the ones not meant for minors. Sakura couldn't see the vaguely predatory smirk under his mask, but apparently enough of it carried through to his eyes that she gasped. It brought Kakashi back to his senses. What was wrong with him? This was Sakura, not some flirt in a bar.

He jumped back from her, leaves crunching under his feet, out from her kunai, her warm body and her large green eyes. The whole exchange had taken about three heartbeats, but it had seemed much longer. Not only had she surprised him, but he'd surprised himself. His body and his brain were at distinct odds at the moment.

His body was telling him that just looking at her at a distance was certainly never going to be enough anymore - there was an attractive single woman right there and shouldn't he be doing something to rectify her lonely situation? Whereas his brain was informing him that his body was an idiot, and needed to be reined in. As usual, he listened to his brain.

Sakura was still staring at him where he crouched about ten feet away as she re-holstered her kunai. He could tell the thoughts were racing through her head as quickly as in his own. Hers probably weren't nearly as lascivious.

"Sakura?" Kakashi said.

They'd been sparring, casting illusions up on and otherwise giving each other a hard time on the field, for the better part of ten years. Never once had she looked at him like that, as if he were made of flesh and blood and urges enough to be reminded her of her own.

Her face was still red as she turned away and disappeared from him in a swirl of smoke, reappearing at the edge of her friends' brawl, her hood thrown back from her hair. When had she gotten so fast?

He watched at the other two promptly broke apart from their brawl to welcome her. Sakura was looking over her shoulder nervously, in his direction. He leaped quickly towards the group.

What the hell had just happened?

A mind-reading jutsu would be very useful right about now. Unfortunately, he had never met anyone who knew a really good one. Maybe he was reading more into her reaction than was really there - but he'd always been able to trust his instincts before.

Perhaps if he could get her to spar with him again... They could talk?

"Yo," he said. The other two spun to face him as he moved into their circle. Sakura glanced at Sasuke, and then at him, though she avoided his eyes.

They had both heard what Naruto and Sasuke's fight had been over, as Naruto had never been described as discreet, nor tactful. He noticed Sasuke and Sakura were looking at each other again, Sakura shaking her head at him. Sasuke masked the emotion from his face, but he seemed to relax a bit, as if her silent answer had given him some kind of relief.

"Kakashi!" said Naruto, grinning wide like a dog that was glad to see him. "I heard you just got back last night. Was the border as bad as Kurenai said?" It was as if Naruto could sense some underlying uneasiness among them, and instinctively moved to get them all on neutral ground.

Kakashi crossed his arms, "It's bad. Yamimaki - he's the lord of the northwest province - he had the head of a Stone lord's son decorating one of his gates when I passed through." A disgusting barbarian. As a citizen of the Fire Country, Kakashi felt vaguely ashamed to be associated with such a man.

"Eh? Why would anyone want to break a twenty-year peace?" Sakura said. "The last war left us almost defenseless, and the Stone had a three-year famine because of it. Why would anyone want to repeat that?"

He shrugged. "Greed. He wants to annex the iron mines in line with his northwestern border across from the Grass. He's been dealing with a couple of villages in Grass Country for passage or possibly an alliance, buttering up a bunch of the local heads with promises and money. Which, I might add, he has acquired rather suspiciously.

"The intelligence I've seen makes me think he might be trying to build his own country, and there may be another one of our own lords who's helping him. I left the Godaime's message with Hidden Stone, but the Tsuchikage didn't send me back with a reply. He was cordial enough." Kakashi had enough of a reputation at this point in his career, that the other Hidden Villages knew Tsunade wished to respectfully treat when she sent a shinobi of his caliber as her messenger. It was up to them to consider the Godaime's offer.

Either way, Yamimaki and his lieutenants wouldn't be breathing much longer. If Stone took care of the problem within reason, Tsunade promised not to retaliate. If they requested Leaf take care of the problem, Kakashi would probably be sent on the job with a team. Neither of the other two most skilled assassins in Konoha would be available for a few weeks. Hyuuga Neji was out of the village on another mission and Nara Shikaku was visiting Hidden Sand to see his newborn grandson.

Naruto growled, clenching a fist in the air, "That guy needs his head knocked off his shoulders!" Sasuke frowned but didn't say anything. Sakura nodded absently.

"I couldn't agree more, but there's not too much we can do until one or the other makes a move." He glanced at Naruto. "Let's get to it, I still have a report to write up tonight. I won last time, but I'll give you another chance. You and me, Naruto. A 400-foot radius for the boundary, no genjutsu," Kakashi said, setting the limits for the match, as he adjusted one of his gloves.

He might as well start with Naruto, he was in the mood for a challenge. If Naruto wasn't well above Kage level, Kakashi would eat his kunai. The only reason he'd won last time was because he'd pulled a very nasty trick that had involved a genjustsu - which Naruto had very nearly killed him for afterwards. Still, it was better that Naruto was forced to remember his enemies would be just as likely to use such tricks, than learn the hard way in the field.

A shinobi had to learn to adapt as the situation changed, frequently in mid-attack. Naruto was particularly weak where his loved ones were involved, making him forget to see underneath the underneath. Perhaps it had been insensitive, but it did open his friend's eyes to his own weakness.

Kakashi frowned when Sasuke grabbed Sakura's right arm to drag her to the opposite side of the field with him. They all knew perfectly well what they were all in for. No genjutsu meant copious physical attacks and probably a lot of ground getting torn up.

"Oh, and I call Sakura for the next match." Kakashi said, loud enough for her to hear. She looked back at him with another unreadable expression. He wondered again what had changed, that she would suddenly act so different towards him.

He'd have to win to get the next match to find out, and he was at a disadvantage - exhausted from his mission and Naruto was going to want to win this time, even more than usual.

It had to be done. If for no other reason than to apologize for possibly overstepping his bounds and making her uncomfortable. Their team had enough underlying issues, and he disliked the thought of making another. He tried to clear from his mind her startled eyes and the fierce blush on her cheeks before she looked away.

Naruto was more than ready, with a dangerous glow to his eyes. "Too bad, when I'm done with you, you're not going to be able to move," he taunted with a grin, tightening the knot in his hitae-ate and moving into position across the field. "I promise I won't kill you. You still owe me thirty-six bowls of ramen."

Kakashi shrugged and put his hands together to make a seal. "Talk to me when you wake up from your concussion." Hopefully, Sakura wouldn't sneak off while he was occupied.


	3. Peer

Chapter 2

Peer

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

At the look in Naruto's eyes, Kakashi became concerned. Naruto was focused, which was bad. When Naruto was focused, he could actually maintain a decent offense, because he didn't rush in immediately. He was oddly silent too.

The younger jounin's overall power and stamina easily surpassed his own. In a no-holds-barred fight, Kakashi had few doubts that Naruto could turn him into so much red putty on the bottom of his sandal if he made a mistake.

He had to find a way to break Naruto's concentration. Especially once he started forming up the bloody Rasengan or one of the multitude of variations he'd created for it, after he'd discovered bigger was not necessarily better and learned to manipulate earth and wind. He had to finish this quickly, or he wouldn't have the chakra available to spar with Sakura.

Usually, Kakashi immediately substituted his body with something else and feinted with the clone or slipped underground, while he waited for the first attack, and depending on the level of opponent. Then he'd set up chidori or selected a genjutsu appropriate to the situation. Chidori was too inefficient because of the chakra expenditure; and because of the terms of the match, an illusion wasn't an option. He wanted to have a good view of what Naruto did next, so his first move was obvious.

Naruto didn't fall for the substitution. The jounin came for Kakashi in a hard run - Naruto never being one to hesitate about anything he enjoyed, which included pounding on people who had riled his temper. Kakashi knew he had made that list temporarily at least, because of their last round together.

Kakashi bounded out of the way, as a sudden barrage of shuriken and shadow shuriken landed where he had stood behind the other man. The Naruto had set up three kage bunshin halfway across the circle and they ran towards Kakashi who sent out three shuriken of his own. One kage bunshin down.

Then Naruto started making handseals behind his back, something he'd taught himself to do to fight Sasuke, though this only worked on area-effect jutsus. Definitely not the Rasengan, since that didn't require handseals at all, but he couldn't see Naruto's hands so he couldn't see what he was setting up for much less copy his actions.

He usually employed the Sharingan sparingly anyway, because of the massive drain on his chakra, relying instead on his other well-honed senses to predict his opponent's motions. If he left his hitai-ate down though, all of Naruto's attacks would be to his left side. Also, his former student had only become more creative with his combination attacks since they'd first met, and he had a talent for adapting his jutsus to the situation, sometimes accidentally creating new ones.

What Kakashi lacked in creativity, he made up for in experience and sheer knowledge, attacking and counter-attacking with every wily trick in the book. Of course, all that his experience and knowledge were telling him right now, was that this wasn't going to be quick, despite speed always having been one of his greatest assets. Naruto was going to try to wear him down, and with the sort of attacks he was likely to use, it might take a while, but it would be effective. Naruto was nothing if not persistent.

Kakashi was going to have to make an opening for himself.

He could feel the earth trembling beneath him. Ugh. This could be painful.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Sasuke leaned back on his hands, legs crossed, watching Naruto spar with Kakashi under the bright autumn sky. He couldn't think of any other place he'd rather be - except maybe working over Naruto in place of Kakashi.

Sakura was next to him, hunched over, chin and hands on her knees, the soft gray cloak she was wearing pooling around her. Her hair had gotten long again. She hadn't gone on a mission with their team in quite some time. Instead, one of the younger medics she was training was sent with them. Not that the kid wasn't talented, but Sasuke trusted Sakura more with his health when it came down to it.

Maybe the hospital was a higher priority for her these days.

Or - was it even possible - could she be ignoring or avoiding having to work with him? He didn't think Sakura could do it, even since that day - when he told her about the engagement. They'd talked briefly since then, and she was here today. She usually started a conversation as soon as they were sitting still, though - one-sided as it usually was.

Sasuke flicked a lock of his overlong bangs out of his eyes. Really, he should get a haircut, it could get in the way during a fight.

Maybe something else was bothering her.

Looking back to the match, Naruto was winning, Kakashi entirely on the defensive from the other man's ubiquitous clones and combination attacks. A long row of earthen spikes leapt up, forcing Kakashi to jump back, close to the edge of the circle. Naruto was starting a run towards the man, and was forming a low-powered wind sphere.

Sasuke looked back to Sakura. He supposed he could have asked her if she wanted to face off too, but she seemed like her mind was elsewhere. It was going around - he was full of his own thoughts, of her, of her proximity.

His chest still clenched when he thought of what he'd had to do to her last spring. No, what he'd done to them and what could have been something better. He was disgusted with himself, but he'd made up his mind, and there was no going back.

Regret was useless. He would never be that person she saw when she looked at him, and there was no point in trying. He tried to bury it in the black part of his mind where those regrets and should-haves seemed to live and breed.

He remembered that for a while after his brother was dead, he had wished to die. Once Itachi was gone, he was alone - had nothing inside and nothing to live for, no purpose. He floundered back into what other people called normal life, cut off from his people in Oto, a sealed captive of Konoha.

While his wounds healed, and his vision slowly returned - with assistance from Sakura among other medic-nin - he tried to recall the person he had been so long ago, the one with likes and dislikes, before all of it. Before Itachi destroyed all that he loved, before Orochimaru took him in and infested his mind.

He hadn't wanted to come back to Konoha - Sasuke still had promises to keep. Certainly, there were plenty of people here who were unhappy at his presence, believing that he deserved death for defecting. If only they knew the half it. Orochimaru had been an evil man, but he was still a product of Konoha's training system, of it's culture. As was he.

Tsunade had explained to the village he was on permanent probation, meaning he couldn't leave the village without at least two other jounin-level nin with him, and he was prohibited from using the Mangekyou Sharingan. These were things he would live with.

Sasuke lived also, not entirely unlike Naruto, with a convenient monster sealed inside his body. Tsunade said she'd done everything in her power to put him back together and protect his mind from that other presence, but he still felt like the ragged stub of a torch, like a gourd that had been scraped out and then filled with nails. Whatever reasons Naruto had had for dragging him back to the village and keeping him alive, they were very different from-

He startled as Sakura pounded her fist on the ground with a little chakra in it.

Naruto had managed to make a solid hit on Kakashi, throwing him again back towards the edge of the large kunai-marked circle they'd made. If either one of them or any of their clones left the circle, they lost.

"One of these days that absurd confidence of his is going to get him killed. He's already been way too lucky," she growled. "Idiot!"

He shook his head at her agitation. "What do you mean? They're not doing anything different. Okay, maybe Naruto's being a bit sloppier today than usual." Sasuke said, frowning. Something was up with Naruto, but he couldn't figure it out, and Naruto had been tight-lipped for once.

The kunoichi made a white-knuckled fist in front of her face, "How can Kakashi honestly know for certain he's going to beat Naruto? To just challenge me like that, over his shoulder. I'm half-tempted to go home to spite him. The nerve."

"Sakura, he's always been like that." Just like Sakura had always been like this, temperamental and over-concerned with ridiculous things.

"Yes, but today it annoys me," she said.

As a medic-nin she was always on them to be careful. Sasuke supposed she still worried about him when he was in the field, uncommon as that was these days. Probably her other friends too - even Kakashi. Though no one admitted it, everyone pulled their punches when practicing at this level, it was simply too dangerous to do otherwise.

Still, it was good to keep in shape and being able to finesse a move. There was an art to pulling punches, too, as he didn't always want to kill his opponent. Often they were needed for questioning. In any case, full-blown A and S-level attacks had to be saved for non-living targets when training, usually clones set up by another person.

He didn't bother to ask what was different today to make her feel annoyed. "Whatever. If he wins it'll be because Naruto screwed up, not because he's stronger."

"I don't know. They're both strong."

"Kakashi as strong as Naruto is right now? Come on," he scoffed. Once you'd figuratively had a mountain dropped on your head by another man, it might be said you had a measure of their strength; Sasuke knew Naruto's. Kakashi could be clever, but he would never be the sheer powerhouse that was Uzumaki Naruto.

Sakura shook her head. "There are different kinds of strength. Oh, this is ridiculous, we're comparing power-levels like genin. I guess I'm just worried because Naruto's so agitated - it makes him sloppy and that's dangerous."

Agitated? What did he have to be agitated over? Not getting enough ramen for lunch? "What are you talking about? What's up with Naruto?" he asked.

She looked at him as if he had said something incredibly stupid. "Sasuke, did you happen to see Hinata at all when you were over having dinner with them?" The ground shook as Naruto raised a wall of earth to deflect a sudden water attack from Kakashi.

He paled at her words. How much of that conversation had she overheard earlier? Sasuke groaned inwardly, wanting to slide into the ground, hoping she would blow off anything else she'd heard come out of his own idiot mouth. "What about Hinata?"  
"I don't know, she's only going to give birth any day now. Women and babies don't always survive that you know, even with great doctors." Sakura didn't mention that he hadn't been around when Natsuame had been born two years ago, so he couldn't have seen how wound up Naruto had been when his daughter arrived.

"Oh," he said, eyes widening. Of course he knew Hinata was pregnant. He hadn't known the child was due to come so soon. What experience did he have with these sort of things? None. What business was it of his, anyway?

"I think she'll be fine," Sakura said. "But after that bit of stupidity last week between those two, when we had to pull them apart before he bashed Kakashi's head in," Sakura gestured with her chin at the two across from them, "I don't want to have to do any more work outside of work."

"Yeah." He frowned. "Pfft. It's funny," he said.

"What?"

"It just occurred to me that I was always talking and thinking about how I had to rebuild my clan when we were kids, and now look who has the family. I never even tried." The words were out of his mouth before he could take them back.

She gave him a dark look. "Don't go there, Sasuke. Just don't."

"Sorry," he said. The silence between them grew longer. "By the way, anything you heard earlier, it was just idle talk between brothers." He gave her the half-smile that he knew she had a weakness for. Her eyelids were still lowered at him though. He sighed.

Trying to remain on good terms with her was a lot more difficult than he'd thought it would be. These little things kept coming up. They were part of a team though, and that relationship had to come first. They had to be able to work together when necessary. He hoped his words didn't sound hollow, or worse, desperate.

They watched as Kakashi reduced Naruto's wall of earth into a wall of mud, by pulling a different water jutsu up through it. It wiped out the last of Naruto's clones and nearly pushed him out of the circle, sloshing him with the mud. Naruto was growling, and he yelled, "You're going to regret that!"

"Only if by 'regret', you mean 'win'," said the other man.

Sakura shook her head, "I ran into Kakashi on the way here, it's not that I meant to eavesdrop, Sasuke. And he was doing it too."

"So it was more like accidentally overhearing, not eavesdropping, right?" Sasuke said. A thought came to him as he said this, though, that it was odd she had met up with Kakashi on the way, but they hadn't arrived together. He remembered her face being a bit flushed.

"Son of a bitch!" Naruto yelled, followed by the sound of two bodies hitting the ground almost simultaneously. Sasuke and Sakura jumped up and hurried over to their teammates.

Naruto was flat on his back, half in and half out of the circle, covered in mud. "When did you even have time to set that?" he yelled.

Apparently, Naruto had been defeated by the simplest of ninja traps, a tripwire. Idiot. Sasuke laughed, but then remembered what Sakura had told him. He must be really out of it about Hinata to fall to that. Of course, Kakashi was always about ten moves in front of his opponent. And Naruto was a spectacular dope.

Then he noticed whatever Kakashi had done to drive Naruto into it, had left the white-haired nin on his back as well. He'd managed to miss the mudpile to his right, which might have cushioned his fall slightly. Kakashi sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He had the other end of the wire in his hand, the length of it strung between three now loose kunai, the remainder of it tangled in Naruto's feet.

Sasuke went over to Naruto and offered his hand to help him up, though he couldn't keep the smirk off his lips. Naruto stayed on his back with his arms crossed over his flak jacket, a sullen look on his mud-spattered face, "Lousy bastard. If you think it's so funny, why don't you try him out again?"

Sasuke looked over to Kakashi, who shrugged scrambling up, and Sasuke shook his head. "Come on. I don't think I'm in the mood for this right now. They can finish without us," he said. He glanced at Sakura who seemed to have already forgotten about them and was watching Kakashi out of the corner of her eye.

Naruto finally took his hand. "Thanks."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Kakashi retracted the wire he'd used back into the holder, then gathered his kunai up without the slightest ring of metal against metal. Sakura was nearby, watching Naruto and Sasuke's retreating backs. "Everything will be back to normal soon. Does Hinata know what it's going to be yet?" he said, as she turned back towards him.

"She said she wanted it to be a surprise," Sakura said. "But between you, me and the six other medic-nin who've worked with her, it's a boy. Tsunade's lost the betting pool, though she doesn't know it yet, so we think everything's going to go smoothly," she grinned.

"Ah." He wondered if they made bets on anything else at the hospital. He rubbed the back of his head again where it was still sore. A frontal physical attack on Naruto in the split second while he was forming a Rasengan wasn't the greatest idea in the world, but it had worked. "So shall we?" He gestured to an undamaged portion of the practice field.

"What's on the menu today?" she asked, pulling her cloak off, and folding it to leave it on the ground.

"I don't know." Her face had seemed gentle and soft against the gray, before the blazing red of her shirt was revealed. He remembered another face like that, from his past, but otherwise the two were nothing alike. Rin had been gentle to her core.

Sakura was a born kunoichi, and thus liked to be in the thick of the action. That she was capable of considerable destruction was not a contradiction to her healing skills. She protected and defended Konoha with every cell of her being, similarly to her master.

He wondered briefly if Rin would have survived the Kyuubi attack if she had been as strong as Sakura. Not just anyone went to their Hokage demanding to be made an apprentice at the tender age of thirteen. "You decide," he said. Although, if he'd been a better teacher, perhaps she wouldn't have needed to. She didn't seem to hold it against him. Things had worked out for the better.

"Hmm. I don't feel like a match, but I should probably practice my evasion techniques. If you don't mind," she said. Medic-nin were too valuable to be allowed to fall into enemy hands or be injured, and their evasion skills were vitally important. Sakura was the most skilled medic-nin in the village. Perhaps even more powerful than Tsunade. She'd be hard to catch, but would make an S-class hostage.

"Sure. Any requests?"

"Just mix it up," she said.

"You asked for it," he grinned.

Over the next four hours, he pushed her until their chakra was well on it's way to being depleted, and finally, panting, she called "Hold!" They both still had to be able to respond in the case of an emergency, even if they were technically off today. She had done very well, but then she usually did, as she knew almost all of his tricks.

He hopped from the branch where he was positioned to jump on her, down to where she was, and they collapsed against another nearby tree trunk, out of breath. With the speed and intensity of his attacks, chasing her over the various terrains, he'd actually broken a sweat.

Kakashi wondered for a moment if she was really that good or if he was just getting old. Well, he had gone against Naruto first with some big jutsus. Two more moves and he would have had her.

Pulling his hitai-ate down over his left eye, he realized his mask was itching, so he tugged it down. The cool air felt great against his neck, and no one was here to see but Sakura. She'd seen his face plenty of times by now, and it was a bit silly to try to hide his face from someone who had had her hand in his guts trying to put him back together on more than one occasion. Or maybe he'd always been a bit permissive with her.

"You should go home and get some rest," he said. The shadows were getting long, and he didn't want Tsunade screaming down his neck for wearing out Sakura before some massive operation.

"No it's all right. Let's just sit here for a minute," she said, her eyes searching his face. "I hope you weren't holding back on me."

"Nope. It's to both our benefit if I don't, you know that." She had been thinking something close to what he had. There were a few things he could have done differently. "I'll try harder next time, but you might not like it," Kakashi said.

Sakura laughed. "Heh, I guess working out with Shizune when the three of you are gone is paying off." She sighed, slumping further down against the base of the tree and pulled her hitai-ate back into place from where it was sitting crookedly on her head. While her hands were up, he noticed the ragged remnants of the pink polish on her nails, recalling how careful she usually was with her everyday appearance. How hard had she been working lately?

"You could ask Tsunade to let you go, you know. If that's what you want," he ventured, realizing that being sidelined from their team had been troubling her. He knew it annoyed Naruto to no end for some reason, though he probably just missed teasing her.

She leaned back on the tree, staring up into the branches. "Yes, of course, but then who's going to train my genin? Who's going to heal the shinobi who come in with their chests sliced open and full of shrapnel and their limbs mangled?" she said, no doubt with a number of other responsibilities lining up in her mind.

Her genin. How odd it was to hear her say that. Even Naruto and Sasuke hadn't been made jounin masters yet, training their own teams. Then again, the need for new field medics was dire. "You're not the only medic-nin, Sakura."

"I know, but the citizens of this village deserve the best person on the job. Tsunade is only available for short periods of time, so that usually leaves Shizune or me heading the major trauma unit. And everything that comes into a ninja hospital is trauma. It takes four medics to do what any one of the three of us can do individually, you know. And if I can save I life, I will," she said, pounding one of her fists against the base of the tree, which shook slightly. "It's just selfishness on my part to want to abandon them."

He moved to crouch in front of her, balancing on the balls of his feet. She seldom opened up to him like this, usually reserving that honor for Naruto. She must be near her breaking point at the hospital. Maybe he would have a talk with Tsunade.

"You'll be serving the village in your highest capacity either way. Having your experience available on a high-risk mission instead of us compensating for one the student medics, would only make our team that much more likely to succeed. No one can deny that."

The silence drew out for a while, until she seemed to sense he was about to get up, and she finally looked at him. "Kakashi? What happened back there? Back in the woods earlier, when we met up?"

He had thought she'd decided to let it go.

"I could ask the same of you," he said, immediately on his guard.

Sakura _had_ tried to surprise attack him from above, by masking her chakra, after all. She might be talking about something completely different than he was thinking. It thrilled him though to believe otherwise, in his perverted little heart. The hopefulness was a wicked thing.

"Well, I'm really not sure. I thought that feeling I got when you were on top of me might be an accident, but I wondered if it was the same for you," she said, stumbling on her words.

Ah good, his instincts were working just fine. "It was. And then it wasn't." And then he'd come to his senses. Or had he? He remained sitting here in front of her, and the world felt like it was standing still or that his body was frozen in place. Was it just an accident of fevered blood and proximity?

She moved closer though, until she was kneeling, leaning with her hands on her thighs, her pale face almost filling his vision. "Ah, is it a good idea to keep going forward on one feeling?" Sakura asked, after he didn't seem inclined to explain further.

Just a few seconds of contact hours ago and now she was asking him this. What had changed in her?

Was she on the rebound from another relationship right now and needed another warm body close by? Women got a bit crazy sometimes after they went through a break up. She and Sasuke had never actually been in a relationship, though he knew there was a good deal of tension between the two. He'd been watching it play out for years after all.

Had she completley cracked? No, he supposed he was probably her closest male friend after Naruto, and obviously Naruto wasn't emotionally available at the moment. Kakashi wasn't sure how he felt about being a prop for her to lean against - but then again what were friends for? And he could make it work in his favor if he was careful.

Ugh, dirty, dirty mind.

Although, the thought that she could possibly return his long-standing, well-concealed attraction was exhilarating and frightening in a way. The pervert part of his mind wanted to reply to her, 'Why yes, and do you mind if we go forward with that feeling right now? Preferably naked in my bed.' He fought with himself to stay grounded. This was no time to rush. He decided to be as honest with Sakura as he could.

"Statistically, no," Kakashi said quietly. He'd always avoided dating kunoichi, in favor of civilians for the same reason. Mixing romantic love and work were not a recipe for success. Then again it hadn't worked out the other way either, had it? "At least not for me. It's not a good idea for the team, either." Not if it was just something she needed to get out of her system. He needed more than that.

Her face fell a little, "So, do you want me to forget about it?" she asked, apparently appealing to his experience as much as his feelings.

"Do you want to?" he asked, knowing he was being evasive. He couldn't help it. It wasn't the age difference - that didn't really bother him at all - Sakura was more mature than a number of sixty-year-olds he'd known.

What did disturb him was the risk he would be taking. Not just if it didn't work, but if it did work. Would it be worth possibly splitting the team up after years of honing their skills together? He'd just finished telling her she should to go on missions with them, not because he needed her but they all needed each other.

Their type of work permitted no time to be experiencing a lover's spat or sexual distraction. Kakashi had seen it often enough among other nin, to know how professionalism could degrade quickly under the pressure of base emotions. If she really had to go out on the field, at the very least he'd have to ask her to work with a different unit so they wouldn't create issues.

And he wasn't sure Sasuke would be all too thrilled with him either. From what he'd heard earlier, the man apparently was still stuck on her and in denial.

This could be a really bad idea.

Sakura's eyes narrowed, and her mouth twisted in annoyance at him dodging her question, forcing her to make the first move. "Oddly, I don't want to forget. When did we get on equal ground with each other, Kakashi?"

He tried to hold back a smile, hearing his name. It was a risk, it could cause permanent problems and destroy the fragile balance of their team. It might be the worst decision he ever made. The only thing he might regret more however, would be not knowing the end result.

Was she was worth the trouble?

Of course she was, what a stupid question - and since when did he back down from a challenge?

Kakashi grinned. "I don't know, but I'm glad you noticed," he said, and reached forward - only to be interrupted by a familiar piercing screech overhead.

It was beautiful timing for reality to kick them in the rear. One of the Hokage's hawks was calling the available jounin in.

He let his head drop to her shoulder for a second, and he felt Sakura sigh. Kakashi kissed her on the cheek, bookmarking the moment in his mind. "We should go. I think the Tsuchikage finally answered," he said. She didn't argue, and he pulled his mask back up as they hurried towards the village.


	4. Watch, Wait

Watch, Wait

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

In front of the village gate where she waited, Sakura was so excited her body quivered. She supposed it could also be from the dreadful chill in the air, warmly dressed though she was. It wasn't quite cold enough to see her breath. Who cared about the cold? Finally, she had been given a mission.

Or at least Team Kakashi been given a mission. Sure, there was the chance of getting injured, or being killed even surrounded by the most competent shinobi the village had to offer. It was worth the risk. After such a long dry spell, she wanted the rush that came with danger licking at her heels.

Technically, a lot of the work she did within the village and hospital went on the books in her mission count, usually C or B-class - S-class if she had to work on a patient who was being interrogated. Everyone knew it wasn't the same.

The Hokage said this mission was going to be very dangerous, and would require someone of her skill level as the team medic. Sakura wasn't concerned with the whys, she was pumped and ready for some action.

Although, she hadn't gotten much of sleep for various reasons. She'd been up past midnight making up assignments for her three genin to do while she was gone. Koedako needed to work on her micro-suturing, Gentsumaru on his herbalism and Takame on her diagnosis of disease.

Tsunade had promised to check in on them occasionally - which meant she'd probably see them once and forget about it. So, Sakura had had to visit each of her students this morning, hand assignment scrolls off to them and explain vaguely to the three sleepy twelve-year-olds the reason for her abrupt departure from the village.

She gave half a glance to her teammates. Sasuke was leaning against the inside wall to the arch of the gate, eating a green, sour-looking apple, while Naruto continued pacing a divot in the path, the long end of his orange knit scarf flapping behind him.

The night before had been extremely eventful. After the Godaime had given their team the mission, Naruto had ripped off one of the doors to Tsunade's office as he had stormed out, furious that she was asking him to leave the village at such an important time for his family. Though he didn't refuse the mission.

A mere three hours later, while Sakura got some much needed rest, Hinata had delivered a son. He had been named Hikaru. As Sakura had hoped, he came quickly and easily as births went, very unlike his sister. Naruto had not slept at all, with the celebrating he'd had to pack into the last few hours. He was still angry with Tsunade. Or at least that was what Sakura decided was the reason for his current mood.

She was irritated with him about it, too. He was a shinobi; he knew what kind of personal sacrifices their job demanded. All he had to do was look to his idols, his own father and the Sandaime. It didn't matter what was going on in their families, if there was a call to service, as Konoha ninja they had to respond. How could he want to be Hokage and not understand that?

She had to bite her tongue, knowing it wouldn't set a good tone for the day if she started yelling at him.

Sasuke didn't seem to be concerned one way or another about Naruto's stomping, which was typical. She sent an annoyed glance his way too.

Sakura adjusted her pack over her insulated winter flak jacket, and sensed around for any signs of Kakashi. He was only a half-hour late, which was nowhere near his record for tardiness.

Her mouth twitched, and she felt the butterflies start waking up in her stomach. Plenty of time to think about him when she had to face him. The sun was high enough to see by, so she pulled out a pen and a small book of puzzles from her hip pack. Working on them calmed her mind, allowing her to think about more vital things than the way his chest felt pressed up against hers.

Damn it. Why the hell was she feeling like this anyway? He'd been on her mind all night and now this morning.

She'd felt affectionate towards him for a long time; they were friends and teammates after all. The faint possibility of a relationship had flickered in her mind for about two seconds after Sasuke had said what he'd said a few months ago – that he thought Kakashi would be a good match for her. But she'd only been around Kakashi a few times after that, and they'd barely spoken.

Then yesterday with Kinoda reminding her why 'normal' men couldn't keep her attention. Which culminated with being confronted with Kakashi himself accidentally provoking some of her starved biological impulses – and obviously feeling some of his own. The only thing she could think to compare it to was a mutual landslide that had been waiting for some trigger to set it off.

All of her attempts at relationships had ended in failure. She had nothing to lose. Why the hell not?

This was stupid, she was regressing into a hormonal child now of all times when there was work to do. Time to think serious thoughts. "Really now, Sakura," she mumbled.

The mission she managed to turn her thoughts to was supposed to consist of three parts – provided everything went according to plan, which it never did.

The first portion required them to visit a wealthy lord by the name of Morokawa Takeshi. Their intelligence reported he was supplying troops to one Yamimaki Hattori, who Kakashi had mentioned the day before. Yamimaki was making claims on a certain portion of Earth Country land, overrunning a wide swath of the weak buffer-state of the Grass people, and upsetting a number of almost helpless local lords who he hadn't managed to bring over to his cause.

The Hidden Stone had little choice but to retaliate if things went any further. However, their treaty of twenty years would be broken if Stone troops crossed into Leaf territory, and open war was a distinct possibility.

Morokawa was known to have a young son who was dying of a wasting disease. This was where Sakura came in. While she couldn't cure every ill, if possible she was to heal the boy, as a bribe to get the lord to recall his men and abandon the alliance he'd made with Lord Yamimaki. They were also to try to get more information out of him on Yamimaki's other allies.

Their alternate plan if the offer to heal his son backfired, was to buy him off. Their last ditch plan involved killing Morokawa, but they wished to avoid this if possible since it would cause instability in the area when his relatives began fighting over his title.

Once this was completed, and the troops were hopefully recalled from the border, they were to make directly to Yamimaki's compound in the village of Haizumi and assassinate him, his two sons, his wife and his military commander. It had been suggested that he had a group of mercenary nin in his retinue, but a number of Konoha's spies, including Kakashi, had not been able to confirm this.

If the troops were not recalled, they were still to carry out the assassinations, then locate the positions of the lord's men and chase them out of the contested territory by means of their unique skills as shinobi. Since these were supposed to be ordinary infantry, instead of nin, it wouldn't be that difficult. The only advantage normal soldiers had against a well-trained nin was sheer numbers. There were supposed to be upwards of five thousand men.

Finally, they would deliver a message from the Hokage to the Tsuchikage, along with the five severed heads of the Yamimaki contingent, proving the issue had been dealt with, and reconfirming their desire for peace and continued good relations.

Sakura disliked killing, but sometimes it was necessary. She'd rather kill five men than five thousand, and with the type of fighting that could break out if the treaty was broken, the Fire Country would be lucky if the body count stayed under that.

The team's mission might take a month or more, depending on the weather and the cooperation of assorted parties. It was a lot to lay on just four people, but Tsunade trusted in them and their abilities.

Kakashi's chakra signature appeared on her internal radar. She looked up from her half-completed puzzle, to see him appear a few feet away from her, holding a bundle of scrolls under one arm, his backpack slung over the other. His eye flicked to her, and she managed to keep her face blank. She put her book away. She was a Konoha kunoichi; she could have a bit of self-control.

"Yo," he said. The circles under his heavy-lidded eyes were darker than usual. She wondered if he'd gotten any more sleep than Naruto.

"You're late," Sasuke said half-heartedly, pitching his apple core over his shoulder.

"Ah, well, I had to stop and help an old man rake leaves," Kakashi replied as he set his pack down, and started pulling scrolls from the bundle. None of them bothered to groan at his idiotic excuse. Really, raking leaves in the dark?

He examined each scroll, and handed them out. Sakura got two, Naruto one, Sasuke two, and Kakashi kept one for himself. "Tsunade called me in this morning to give me these. The red scroll will contain your passports to travel between the Grass and Earth countries, and a few pieces of additional equipment. Sakura, I think your second scroll is a personal message. Sasuke, yours is the usual."

By the usual, he meant it contained Sasuke's temporary authorization, and the charm that would allow him to leave the village. He had to carry it at all times or the binding seal on his chest would render him immobile. She watched him tuck it into a pouch under his shirt. Sakura put away her scrolls, which had her name hastily brushed on them. If they were going as far as the Earth Country, there would be plenty of time to read whatever Tsunade had to say.

Last night Kakashi had stayed behind in the Hokage's office, after she'd dismissed Sakura and Sasuke from the mission briefing. He'd probably had to make the report for his last outing.

She wondered if he felt the same way now that they weren't both high on adrenaline and exertion. Sakura risked a glance at him out the corner of her eye. Admittedly he was still her team leader, there were still certain taboos to be conscious of.

He was pulling his backpack on, not looking at her at all. Why was she so nervous? This was stupid, she'd been around him for years and not thought of him in this way.

It wasn't that unusual. People within the teams got together all the time, some briefly, others for life. Look at Ino and Chouji.

Then again, those two had gone off the active roster, since their three kids and the restaurant were higher priorities now. As reserve nin they each did sentry duty every other weekend, and that was it. That wasn't the sort of lifestyle Sakura had in mind for herself. At least not for a few more years.

Certainly, Kakashi wasn't the sort who could give up being a shinobi easily. He was out of the village sometimes for months on missions she was aware that even the ANBU would reject for the sheer level of difficulty or even unpleasantness. There were reasons he hid his face, and reasons he didn't talk much about his work. Reasons why he was single.

Sakura was at the hospital so often these days that all the plants Naruto had given her for her apartment had died, except the fern and the aloe. She got all of her mail sent to her office and the cot at the hospital was starting to become more familiar than her own bed.

Her nightmares were becoming more frequent of late, they woke her shaking and in a cold sweat. She recalled a recent particularly vivid one, where she was trapped alone inside an operating room with a many-faced patient, who fell apart as she tried to heal him and bled so much it flooded the floor. Still, she slept through many of the moments she had free. She wasn't exactly all that available either.

Now she started to understand why Kakashi had suggested it could be a bad idea for them to attempt a relationship beyond the one they had. When would they even see each other? While they were on an important mission like this, when they were working? It was just such an idiotic thing to even try.

But he had certainly seemed interested, and he was not a stupid man. Sakura wouldn't have been too surprised if they had ended up back at one of their apartments last night.

iOh my God, why am I thinking about having sex with Kakashi? /i If she looked at him right now, she knew her face would turn red. If it wasn't already. Thank goodness he was behind her. She couldn't seem to stop blushing anymore.

"Are you guys ready?" said Naruto. "The sooner we leave the sooner we get back!" He wasn't balking at the mission now. Naruto was like that. He could change his attitude on a dime, usually trying to make something positive out of whatever might be upsetting him.

He leapt off into the trees, bearing north, and they followed unquestioning, creating a loose diamond formation. Sasuke was to her left, and Kakashi brought up the rear. Everyone was silent. Naruto was tired, Sasuke was always quiet, and Kakashi had relayed everything they needed to know. She wanted to ask Kakashi a few things about the mission, but she didn't trust herself to stay on topic. This could be a problem.

The team didn't stop at all except for a quick dinner break in the early afternoon, where they decided they'd keep going until they reached a small logging town which was known to have a decent inn. It was almost midnight when they got to their room.

Fully-dressed, Sakura collapsed into sleep on her futon almost as soon as it was unfurled.

When she woke, she realized someone had removed her jacket and thrown a cover over her without waking her. Could she have really been that tired? Some ninja she was. Sakura had gotten out of the habit of putting little chakra alarms around her sleeping area. Her jacket was folded neatly next to the futon. She had been taught better than this, and she had a feeling Kakashi was letting her know it.

She sat up, pulling her tangled hair back from her face. The room smelled of pine and the current occupants' stale sweat. There wasn't much light just yet, but she could make out Naruto's sprawled form nearby, snoring happily on his futon next to her, his bare feet sticking out of his cover. Kakashi was curled up closest to the door like a guard dog, and Sasuke was laying backed up against the wall farthest from the door.

She knew if she moved around any more she'd wake Sasuke and Kakashi, who were light sleepers. She should have gotten her own room, she was the only girl after all.

But Naruto was the one carrying their travel money. He was surprisingly shrewd at managing his finances, probably from living on his own most of his life. He had said if they got a single room it would be cheaper, and they'd be able to afford nicer places to stay on the way back when they were really exhausted.

If he thought so.

Finally, she got too restless and hungry and she threw her blanket back and got up. First, she'd go freshen up and then she'd see if the inn was serving breakfast.

The tatami mats were soft and cool under her feet, and virtually noiseless. Sakura carefully stepped around Kakashi's bedding, only for him to reach out and brush her ankle with his fingers.

She managed to hold back her squeal of surprise, and hurried out the door, fully awake. Every nerve in her body was tingling on end as she stalked down the hall like he'd charged her with chakra.

No, he hadn't forgotten.

In the bathroom, she splashed some water on her face and tried to untangle her hair with her fingers, throwing it back in a loose braid. All of her toiletries were in her bag, and she wasn't about to go back to the room just yet. Sakura glanced at herself in the tiny scratched mirror over the old porcelain sink.

She wasn't sure it was right that they were on a mission together currently. Desire was starting to consume her mind. And Hatake Kakashi, the supposed uber-professional jounin, was personally escalating the situation. If their other two teammates realized what was going on, it would get much more uncomfortable.

She shook her head in frustration. Why did this have to happen now? Why couldn't this have happened when we could have some time alone together? Perhaps if he were laid up in the hospital or something, she thought.

Kakashi was already downstairs when she went for her breakfast, no mask on as he was eating. He had no company, though there were plenty tables for other diners in the well-lit, wood-paneled room. He was at a small corner table, and through the window almost behind him, she could see the sun starting to come up over the tall pines.

There was space for one more person at his table. She went over to the buffet the inn provided on one end of the dining room and served herself a portion of egg-fried rice into a bowl, before pouring a cup of tea and plucking a sweet roll from the well-stocked tray.

He was watching her.

She took a bite out of her roll as she walked over to his table. This was no big deal, it was just Kakashi, they'd eaten together like this plenty of times. Nothing to get worked up about. No reason to feel warm and excited and nervous.

He looked vaguely amused as she sat down across from him. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone fall asleep so fast in my life," he said with a grin.

"Good morning, to you too," Sakura said, taking another bite.

"Of course I had to make sure you hadn't gotten stuck with a poisoned needle or something."

Her face flamed red. "I was just tired." There were about ten different jutsus she could think of which he could have used to keep her from waking. Why would he think she'd been poisoned? No one with half a brain would go after a group of well-known, kage-level nin on the move in their own territory.

Was he just teasing her, or was there something else to this mission that she hadn't been told? Suddenly the scroll from Tsunade that she had dismissed so easily the day before, popped to the forefront of her mind.

He saw the question in her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm just paranoid," Kakashi said taking a bite of the pork roll he had nearly finished. "You looked really cute."

Had those words just come out of his mouth? "Kakashi!" she hissed, looking around. He looked as cool and calm as ever, hitai-ate slung over his eye, his silver hair an unruly mess. Naruto was the only one of the three men on her team who looked like he'd ever met a comb.

"You do look much better when you're awake," he said.

She blinked at him a few times. There was a certain shy quality to the way he said it, which she found to be incredibly endearing. She took a sip of her tea and her eyes locked with his over her cup. "If you like filthy, smelly, puffy-eyed, red-faced girls, maybe," she said, setting her cup down.

He grinned. "Don't be so modest. You left out grouchy."

She forgot the tea and leaned over the table and kissed him.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Naruto stretched his arms out again with his wide yawn, narrowly missing Sasuke's face with an errant fist as they walked together down the hallway. Sasuke had kicked him to wake him up, so it wouldn't have upset Naruto terribly if his knuckles had cracked across his teeth. He managed to beat the other man to the stairwell, so he'd be the first to the food. Hopefully, Sakura and Kakashi hadn't eaten everything already. He leaped down the last four stairs.

He turned the corner, and his jaw dropped. So much food! If only there was ramen too. Naruto looked across the room for Kakashi and Sakura.

iHoly shit!/i

He stopped his forward momentum and pretended to trip and fall backwards, knocking Sasuke back against the stairs with him.

Sasuke cursed loudly. "Get off me!" he growled, levering his foot against Naruto's back, and pushing him into the wall across from them with a crash.

Naruto felt boards splinter under his shoulder. They'd been loud enough though, that the other two members of their team would've had to have heard them coming. Kakashi and Sakura were more or less alone in the dining room, locked in a deep kiss. Though the housekeeper was ogling them from the doorway.

Naruto knew his friends fairly well, but he hadn't expected that. He had never noticed Kakashi and Sakura flirting before. It had to have started recently, and good for them, but there was going to have to be a better way for Sasuke to find out. Naruto knew his friend wasn't so disinterested in Sakura as he pretended to be.

He peeled himself off the wall and ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair, as he went into the dining room behind Sasuke. Sakura was already on her feet heading in their direction, and Kakashi was adjusting his mask on his face. Good, it had worked.

He doubted he would catch Sasuke off-guard like that any time soon. Now, how to tell him? Or maybe he should just inform the other two they needed to be a bit more considerate. He wasn't too keen on running into them making out again.

"I'm going to go clean up," Sakura said in passing. "I need a bath."

iA cold one,/i thought Naruto as he stacked food on his plate.

He thought Hinata was the only woman he'd ever seen with a face that red.

His mind went back to the night before last. Hinata had been asleep at the hospital when he'd finally had to leave. Hanabi and his mother-in-law were watching Natsuame and would escort Hinata and the baby home today. His daughter had seemed excited at the prospect of a new sibling, though like her father Natsuame was easy to please.

Hikaru looked like he was going to resemble his mother more, but it was too early to really tell. He had still been fairly squashed and purple-looking, and hadn't opened his eyes. It had only been hours since he'd come into the world before his father had to leave. Like his own father, though hopefully he would be coming back from this one.

It all made the Naruto wonder again about his parents, his mother, and what she'd been like. Jiraiya had claimed that Naruto was a lot like his mother in how persistently cheerful and uncompromising he was. And clumsy. Supposedly she'd been very beautiful. He liked to think Natsuame took after her.

God he wanted to be home right now. He'd take a hundred D-rank drudge missions every day for a year if he could.

Naruto pulled a chair over to where Sasuke was sitting with Kakashi. The blonde, teenage waitress who was clearing the used dishes off their table, kept giggling. Naruto grinned widely at her as he sat down, glad that Jiraiya wasn't there. That old lecher had a tendency to turn into an octopus around girls like this.

"Sorry about that, Sasuke. There was a loose board," Naruto said, laughing as he dug in. He was the worst liar in the world, and everyone at the table knew it, but for some reason he felt the need to try.

Sasuke gave him the death look. "No, you're just a clumsy fuck." Damn sourpuss. Naruto gave him the finger, since his mouth was too full to talk.

"I hope you two didn't do too much damage, we've only got so much money," Kakashi said.

Sasuke shook his head as he looked up from shoveling rice in his mouth. "Did anyone else notice Sakura barely ate any of her breakfast?" he said, glancing at Kakashi then Naruto.

"Maybe she didn't like the food," Naruto said.

Kakashi just shrugged. "I'm going to go get my things together," he said. "Don't take too long eating. We should be able to reach the first objective tonight if we leave within the next half-hour." He pulled a book out of his hip pack from Jiraiya's second series, Make-out Survival.

The cover was bright pink instead of the orange ones they had gotten used to seeing, with an image of a man and a woman wielding machetes at each other. It had an adults only sticker on the back. "We'll meet at 07:00 in the foyer," he said.

Naruto couldn't help himself. "Are you sure a half hour is going to be enough time for Sakura?" he asked innocuously.

The silver-haired shinobi stopped in his tracks, getting his drift. "She knows the importance of our assignment and has enough self-control to not cause problems which would compromise it," he said without turning around, and walked upstairs.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "He's in a bad mood today," he said, as he plucked a piece of meat off his plate with his chopsticks.

Naruto wondered if Kakashi should really be so certain that there wouldn't be any problems. He wanted this mission over quickly, and it would be. He didn't care if he had to ask one or both of them to go back to Konoha, and send back a jounin who could keep his mind on his work, instead of his teammate's body.

He shrugged, and leaned back from the table, looking towards the stairs. "Yeah, he's definitely in a mood."

"So Kakashi and Sakura are together now, huh?" Sasuke said, nonchalant.

Every hair on Naruto's body stood on end. He slowly turned to face his friend, but Sasuke's face betrayed nothing.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Kakashi was frowning down into his book, his eyes glancing at the words but not really reading them. If Naruto thought Sasuke would be so upset about what had happened down there, that he would consciously make a fool of himself on his friend's behalf, then they definitely needed to keep this under wraps.

He'd known it could be a problem and ignored it and left the village without resolving this with Sakura. Was one kiss worth team unity? Of course not. His brain had obviously not been getting enough blood.

What he needed to do was talk to her, but he wasn't quite sure what he was going to say to her without becoming the ultimate hypocrite. It was his fault really, for flirting with her, for baiting her.

It was already pretty bad if Naruto had to put him in his place.

He should never have left the village without talking to her about this. The fact that she'd been in his thoughts the entire time he was preparing for the mission should have clued him off. And then when he'd stopped by the memorial to visit his friends, he had been wondering whether he was a complete idiot for deciding to pursue a girl so many years his junior and a former student. He knew how most of the people he knew would react, either disgusted or perplexed with his behavior – though he could also think of quite a few who would clap him on the back and wink.

Jiraiya came to mind... And Sandaime and Yondaime had any of them been alive to do so. Sigh. Why was he surprised at all with this development? He'd been raised by lechers.

The intelligent thing to do would be to tell her that he was putting the brakes on. The logical thing to do would be to put it all to the backs of their minds and start over when they got home. She was definitely worth waiting for when it came down to it. Which came to the core of his reasoning, if he could call it that. He'd already been waiting so long.

Knocking to warn her he was coming in, Kakashi slid the door open to their room. Sakura sat cross-legged on the floor of the sparsely furnished space, brushing her hair out. She was wearing nothing but a black sports bra and underwear, a damp towel crumpled next to her. When she looked up at him and smiled, he thought for a moment his heart had stopped.

He'd seen her like this plenty of times over the years – though not quite with that expression. When they had to set camp in open terrain privacy was almost impossible, and if they had downtime on a seaside assignment, she'd find some way to wear a bathing suit, usually something pink and covering very little skin. Hell, he'd actually seen her in less, once, by accident. Not that he'd committed such occurrences to memory or anything.

Liar.

"Kakashi, I don't know if we should-"

iLock the door and have our way with each other?/i he thought, finishing her sentence in his head.

He sat down across from her, knees almost touching hers. The soap she'd used left her smelling lightly of gardenias, which while not very ninja-like definitely suited her. He sighed. This whole affair was going to get one of them killed for sure. Hopefully it would be him so he wouldn't have to live with the guilt. "I told Naruto that you and I would sort this out before we left."

"In front of Sasuke?" she yelped. Kakashi winced a little. If he wasn't so certain himself that Sasuke was capable of suddenly becoming a jealous bastard, he wouldn't be walking on eggshells about it.

"Not exactly. It's alright." He touched her cheek and traced down towards her neck where she'd been marked by a kunai years ago.

Sakura jerked away. "If you're going to do that, you have to take your mask off. It's your work-face, Kakashi. Don't blur the lines if you're trying to make boundaries," she said.

How remarkably observant of her. He used the mask mainly to to conceal his expression. It had been kind of a crutch after his father had been disgraced, to hide his emotions. According to the rules, he couldn't show them, but he had already been influenced by his father, who above all was a compassionate man, a loving man, who had not been the sort of person to hide his joy or sadness.

Even after Obito had relieved Kakashi of the weight his shame, he had so gotten used to his face being covered, that without it he felt unprepared and vulnerable. It had come in useful during those eight frozen years he'd spent forgetting himself in the ANBU, trying to come to terms with his failure to protect a single one of his friends and family.

Was it his work-face? Perhaps, since he was almost always 'on', always working. Was he on the clock right now? Twenty minutes and counting down. He'd told Naruto, and reminded himself of his responsibilities here. He needed to get his mind back on track.

If he took his mask off now, it wouldn't be long before other things came off – although she was obviously in no hurry to put her clothes on either. Was that what she had in mind, and he was just being incredibly dense?

He couldn't afford to lose any more of his self-control. In fact it was far past time he gathered it back up and at least attempted to reassemble his facade. Well, the boundaries were set then.

Maybe he wouldn't let her see his face, until the last objective had been fulfilled and they were stretching their legs out on the couches of the Tsuchikage's visitor suites. Or an inn near the border, depending on whether the Hidden Stone's Yondaime was feeling like being a prick and breaking the treaty anyway.

He watched as Sakura started tugging her hair back into a high tail, her arms above her head, giving him a good view of her curves. She could have at least tried to put more clothing on.

This was going to be a very long mission.

"You're right," he said, and then chuckled lightly to himself. "Maybe I'll have you wear one too."

"Don't tempt me." She covered the lower half of her face with her hand, and when she pulled it away, her tongue was sticking out at him.

"On the contrary, I think you are the one tempting me." He wondered if she had any clue just how powerful of an effect she was having on him. That kiss she'd given him had just dumped a whole load of dry logs where previously there had only been a bit of quietly burning tinder.

Her lips had been sugary from what she'd been eating and after a few seconds of laughing awkwardness, soft and eager. It was disappointing to know that it might be weeks before he would taste them again. But he was fairly certain that fire wouldn't burn low anytime soon.

Sakura laughed as she stood up and pulled on the lower half of her uniform, then leaned over and poked him in the chest. "We are going to the resort onsen outside Ginmatsu as soon as this is over. You and me. Just us. No sharp objects and deadly jutsus. No patients and students. No masks."

He grinned, though he knew she could only see his eye scrunch up. With such a powerful incentive, he almost felt sorry for his enemies. Not that he'd been planning on going easy on a bunch of traitors. "Get me back in one piece and it's a deal."


	5. Morning Run

Chapter 4

Morning Run

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X

A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X

Leaping in the dark, with a good boost of chakra behind him, Sasuke swiftly crossed over the stone battlements and onto the tiled roof of Morokawa's fortress. The guards heard nothing, saw nothing, even though he'd practically leapt in front of them.

It was freezing out, the temperature having dropped since sunset, and he was starting to wish he'd brought a heavier jacket. He adjusted the black cloth of his mask over his nose, glad that it would help conceal the white cloud of his warm breath and keep the wind off his face. He was uncertain why Kakashi had been so insistent they all wear one this time out. Sasuke would probably have balked more if it had been hot outside.

The dawn wouldn't break for a good three hours, and would be dull since the sky was overcast; there was no moon nor a single comforting star. He could think of quite a few places he could be enjoying at the moment, as opposed to lurking outside some rich bastard's house, freezing his balls off.

One of them was in the room he could see across from him, where he could be sitting, warming himself next to the hearth. The clay tiles under his his gloved hands seemed to bleed cold into him more aggressively where he crouched, as he looked at the fire. He knew better than to take stupid chances, but it certainly was tempting.

Particularly in light of the fact that he didn't expect to find out much on this little information-gathering trek.

After running the entire day, Kakashi had only allowed them four hours of rest. Just like the others, Sasuke had slept on the cold ground with only his thin blanket and no campfire. It all had left Sasuke in a decidedly sour mood. Still, he had to have something to report when he met up with Kakashi in a half-hour, near camp. Not that the other man would be on time.

The town below was called Itsumidori. Before they could meet with Morokawa at all, they had to find out as much about what was taking place here as they could. The lord would cover up anything suspicious as soon as they presented themselves.

No doubt Yamimaki had his own spies here too, and they'd go running to their master the moment a contingent of Konoha nin arrived. Sasuke didn't know how much they could actually learn while it was dark and the majority of people were asleep. No doubt Kakashi would disagree, but collecting intelligence wasn't Sasuke's specialty. He knew that was why he was spidering about on the rooftops instead of risking discovery inside the building like Kakashi was.

Sasuke looked down over his shoulder into the walled town. The fortress itself was positioned at the top of a granite cliff, overlooking Itsumidori, which suggested that the view would be spectacular in the daytime.

He could see the vague outlines of buildings below, the flicker of fire, and the occasional moving lantern. The air was thick with the smell of woodsmoke and damp stone. Much of this area hadn't been wired for electricity yet. The black expanse of the creek that flowed against the cliffside reflected the few steady lights from the fortress.

At this point he'd only counted about eight guards, six on the walls and two patrolling on the courtyard below. They seemed well-trained, dipping into the dark corners and alleys with their lanterns as they walked in pairs, seldom stopping to talk. All seemed to be strong, confident men, each carrying a polearm in hand and a sword on his belt.

If only they knew just how helpless they were at this moment.

Most people in the Fire Country paid little attention to their hidden village. Until someone died mysteriously, or perhaps some piece of valuable property was recovered, or a group of bandits was suddenly put out of commission.

The Leaf kept its own counsel, and only those with the money or a desperate cause deliberately sought them out. Certainly, Leaf nin were welcome in the inns and flophouses across the land. Most vendors were glad enough to take their money, but average citizens were highly wary of them. Trouble more often than not was on either end of a shinobi's path.

Going by the maps and the mission data, which Kakashi had fished from his pack for them to pore over before they set out, Sasuke found the windows to Morokawa's bedchamber easily. The file photo had displayed a tall, brushy-haired man with big cheeks and small eyes. It wouldn't take much to get into the room and stick a kunai in him. If this were a simple assassination, the lord would already be dead four times over, and Sasuke on his way to the next objective.

However, they were to try to keep this mission as bloodless as possible. This portion was meant to be largely diplomatic, and politics were more up Naruto's avenue than Sasuke's. The blond nin actually liked to talk to people for extended periods of time and had a way of winning them over within mere seconds. He didn't envy Naruto his talent, actually most of the time he wished he'd just shut the hell up.

Sasuke continued on from the lord's window to the next roof, looking for people who were awake to observe. He noted a few more guards and some interestingly placed doors and hatches to the higher floors.

With his next leap he accidentally disturbed some loose tiles, sending them skittering towards the ground. He caught all three before they hit the pavement, and then bounded back to where he had been, more carefully this time. There was already a sizable hole and he could see the rafters beneath, though not the room itself. Someone had nailed an oilcloth under the hole.

Apparently, Morokawa was spending more on his troops than building maintenance.

He noticed a window right above where he stood and a flickering light behind it, probably a candle. It was the only one along the entire building face that was lit, so he took a peek.

And pulled his head back sharply. Ugh. Two people were screwing in there, bodies and limbs twined together like writhing snakes.

That brought back unpleasant memories, and made bile rise in his throat. Orochimaru had had a taste for older adolescent girls. He had indulged infrequently, but thoroughly when he did. Sasuke had been conscious of what was happening, knew the physical sensations, though he'd been unable to act against his posesser.

Orochimaru had had no affection for those he seduced. Most of them were merely instruments necessary for the creation of his next vessel. He treated his tools well, but certainly gave no thought to them when he was not using them. If one was broken, it was replaced.

Naturally, the ruthless bastard had achieved his desired results. Two children had survived to Sasuke's knowledge.

His sons.

Sasuke tried not to think about the mothers, abandoned when that snake-bastard's use for them had ended. He tried not to think about the others, disposed of when the man did not detect within them whatever spark he was looking for, which denoted a Sharingan-bearing fetus. Killed on the off-chance of the trait showing up again in a later generation, where he could not control it.

A good many of Orochimaru's thoughts were about what he could or could not control. Now he was locked, seething with rage, behind the many layers of the seal Tsunade had made. The seal wrapped in black sworls around Sasuke's torso, combining with the two other seals that already marked his body, making him the snake-summoner's living prison.

Sasuke moved on, working his way around the building. The boys had crossed his mind, and he found it fixed on them. Yokino was four and Akiji three years of age, both dark-haired, attractive children, though Akiji had a grim face and complexion that reminded Sasuke very much of his own father, and of Itachi.

Six people knew of their origins; himself, Tsunade, Naruto, Hyuuga Hiashi, and the couple who currently fostered them. They had been rescued from Orochimaru's lair not long after the Sannin's defeat. Tsunade had put the boys into the custody of a family in Konoha, and once he had recovered enough, he'd begun to quietly visit with them.

It had been six months now since he had started his visits, and Sasuke felt he was ready to bring his sons home. He was their father, regardless of the situation they were created in. They didn't deserve to be punished for what he felt he had allowed to happen.

Of course, Sasuke knew next to nothing about parenting. He had a feeling he'd be asking Naruto for advice, which irked him slightly. He hated displaying any kind of inferiority to his rival. Also, he would have to start training Yokino almost immediately, as he would start the academy next year.

Oddly enough, he was looking forward to teaching them. Both he and his brother had the velvet black eyes that were near positive markers for the Sharingan, which made it all the more important that they have a grounding in the basics of ninjutsu. Yokino was already fast on his feet and brawled affectionately with his younger brother. Akiji was quieter, but watchful and curious.

They would need to be strong not only in body but in spirit to overcome the stigma that had blackened the Uchiha name. All he could offer his sons was his time, and hope they wouldn't hate him. He would do his best to see that they did not pay for his sins.

At one time he'd thought Itachi had carried all the evil in the world in his narrow frame. Then Orochimaru had taught him what a real sociopath was capable of. In cooperating with that snake, Sasuke had become the same as, if not worse than, his elder brother.

Nothing he could do would change the past. He didn't usually take missions like this one these days, and was only here on the Godaime's request. More often than not, Sasuke was doing research for Tsunade, sitting at a desk layered in scrolls while he was confined to the village.

It was preferable to being imprisoned in a cell or put to death. He couldn't complain.

He was already making plans to move out of the small apartment he'd been living in, near the Hokage's tower, to fix up one of the houses he'd inherited. Not his parents' home. Sasuke was considering razing it and building a park in its place. Once the boys were moved in, he would have to hire a housekeeper, and maybe a cook. He was a passable cook, but only for himself, and it might be a while before he had a wife.

He ran along the ridged roof of one of the long outbuildings, obviously a stable by the smell. Sasuke spotted two more guards and added them to the tally. Twenty-four. He leapt back to the main building, landing on a long and narrow stone balcony.

He would have to break it to Hanabi soon. Her father would assist him, as he had been in the know when the betrothal had been outlined and all of the inheritance details laid out for the sake of any future children.

Sasuke had still been considering letting the other family adopt and raise the boys back then. Now he was more certain of his feelings and his responsibilities, difficult though they were to accept. If Hanabi changed her mind about marrying him once she had been told, he wouldn't blame her. There was one person Sasuke was far more worried about explaining this to.

Sakura.

She was going to kill him. Not only had he not told her of his sons, but Naruto had been aware of them since the beginning, had even been to see them, and it had already been two years.

He dreaded this more than when he'd told her about the engagement. He'd been considering telling her about them then, but decided it would be too much for one night. He really didn't understand his hesitation. It had occurred to him that perhaps he feared her rejecting him. But that couldn't be it; he'd always been the one to reject her. It couldn't be that. It was stupid to even think things like that.

So why was it bothering him so much? He had had every opportunity in the world to be with her if he really wanted her. He knew he cared for her, enough so to realize she deserved a man who was whole. One who wasn't harboring a monster inside of him. A man who wasn't so broken he couldn't even perform the duties of a husband to a wife. There was no more time for regret.

It was a good thing Sakura had moved on. A good thing for her, and probably for Kakashi too, if he was reading the looks that passed between the two of them correctly. He could only wish her happiness and look towards the future he had laid out for himself.

Sasuke hoped that Hanabi was patient with him. He had three years yet. Time for vile memories to fade and to raise his sons as best he was able.

Trying to get his mind back on the mission, Sasuke sensed around and continued along the balcony, looking for the door that opened to it. He turned the corner, clinging to the shadows.

Halfway down the length of the building and the balcony, was the door he'd sought, standing wide open, a long yellow slash of light coloring the ground across from it, draping the railing. In the stripe of brightness, stood a dark-haired figure wrapped in a rich fur-lined robe.

He withdrew tighter into the the shadows, though he knew it was near impossible for him to be seen. A boy?

He was perhaps twelve or thirteen by his height, dark-featured and painfully thin, his cheekbones so tight against his skin they looked like they might rip through. He trudged weakly in the light, moving towards the tall stone railing.

The boy dropped the robe from his shoulders as if it had become too heavy, revealing his stick-like body wrapped in linen bandages, a long nightshirt and bare feet. The boy fell hard against the rail when he reached it, breathing heavily.

Sasuke could see where this was going, but he didn't move. The boy tried to pull himself up, over the rail, but instead his wasted muscles gave out and he crumpled into a shivering heap.

Kakashi wouldn't like what Sasuke was about to do, but he wasn't here to overrule him, and so he crept out of the shadows and over to the prone figure. No one was watching through the doorway nor could Sasuke detect anyone in the hall. The boy's eyes were closed, his breath rattling and shallow while his body shook.

When Sasuke picked him up, he realized just how ill this child was, how emaciated and weak. Morokawa's son. The boy had to be Morokawa's son, and he reminded him of nothing so much as a bundle of dry twigs. He smelled of eucalyptus, iodine and wine as if his body had been prepared already for a pyre. There was no time to spare, as cold as it was outside. This boy was crucial to their mission, and he was not only trying to kill himself, but he couldn't possibly be far from death in the first place.

Sasuke grabbed the boy's robe and wrapped him back up tightly, carefully. He wondered why the boy would go such an extreme, when it was obvious he need only wait a few more days for nature to take its course.

He entered the fortress, sensing around for warm bodies, listening for voices and footsteps, as he hurried down the hallway with the boy in his arms. Uninterrupted, he soon came upon an open door, which presented a richly-appointed but unoccupied bedroom.

The fire was built high and hot as if it had just been tended, which Sasuke noticed with uncommon glee. Warm again, at least for a minute. The bed was unmade, and Sasuke could see on a table nearby, a tray of bottles and packets with labels suggesting they were medicinal in nature. The boy hadn't gone too far from his room, it would seem.

Sasuke carefully laid the boy on the mattress, and pulled the covers over him. He had almost turned to go, when he heard a dry ticking sound. A laugh? Morokawa's son was looking at him, grinning up feverishly.

"I suppose he had another pair of eyes on me anyway. And after all that trouble I went to, getting Tanku out of here," the boy said, his voice rough and low. Apparently, he thought Sasuke was working for someone in the fortress. His father perhaps?

"I wasn't going to leave you to die," Sasuke whispered. It was true enough. If the boy had jumped, he still would have caught him.

"You should have let me freeze. Whoever you are. Father has already ruined us. First for a cure and now look what he's done to my sister. The gods have no mercy on the unfit," he said, and seemed to run out of breath. "You should- you should have let me die," he panted, and his eyes fluttered closed and remained that way.

Sasuke tucked the blanket up to the boy's neck, relieved he was still breathing. Certain that the boy wasn't going anywhere for a while, he hurried out of the fortress, closing doors behind him and deeply uneasy about what he had just seen and heard.

What sort of deal had Morokawa made with Yamimaki, that his son would say such things? He had to find Kakashi. Sasuke could withstand a few seconds of the man's irritated silence, which within the team was considered on par with a reaming by Tsunade, for going against orders and being seen. This was important.

He finished the rest of his assignment with great haste, checking out the remaining locations on the recon list, and then hurried back towards camp. He sensed Kakashi at their meeting place well before he could see him. When Sasuke arrived, the man was pacing inside the small grove, deep in thought. He looked up sharply as Sasuke landed in a crouch not far from his feet.

"Yo," said Kakashi. "You're late."

Sasuke pulled down his mask, since he didn't have to wear the irritating thing anymore. "I have a bit of a situation to explain," he said.

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Sakura hung back in the deepest shadows near Naruto, as he scouted out the next location. There was so little light, it was hard for her to rely merely on her eyes. Sending out hundreds of little feelers to keep from running into things, could use up what was left of her chakra, after the short recovery period Kakashi had given them.

She was a little irked at him, but knew her anger served no purpose. She had done more with less before, so she shouldn't complain. It could be so much worse. Naruto's eyes and nose and ears were already augmented by the Kyuubi, so he could move a far more freely.

She followed his movement with a chakra tag she'd put on him before he'd run off, and amplified her senses as much as she was able, managing to just keep up with him. Nothing too interesting had turned up, and they'd been criss-crossing Itsumidori for two hours.

The barracks they were checking held about five hundred men and there was an officer's quarters as well. The warehouses near the wall were full, and would easily get a town twenty times this size through the winter. They had little doubt that Morokawa had another fort or area where he recruited and trained his men. There were no signs where that might be, however.

Naruto came full circle, landing beside her quietly. "Nothing. Just some more small patrols. Everything besides the warehouses seems pretty normal."

"We should head back. We've hit all the objectives."

"Sure," he said, and they headed out, with haste. If they were lucky maybe they'd get another hour or two of sleep, or even a few minutes by a cookfire. It was really cold now.

After they had put some distance between them and the town, Naruto looked over at her as he pulled his mask down to display a wide grin. "So anyway, when are you going to tell me about you and Kakashi?"

"What?" she yelped, trying not to be too loud. There could be woodcutters or trappers about.

"I mean who gave who tongue first?"

Her eyes went wide. He was so rude. "Naruto-" Why couldn't Kakashi put her with Sasuke? At least she didn't feel the frequent need to stop and clout him over the head with the nearest available object when they worked together.

"You seemed like you were really getting into it," he laughed.

"Naruto!" she said, unable to keep her voice down any longer. She knew she deserved a bit of trouble from him just for getting caught, but he didn't have to be so vulgar.

"It reminded me of the time at that restaurant when you got drunk-" He couldn't finish because she had punched him in the ear, throwing him out of his leap only for him to tumble facedown a shale slope into the roots of a thick pine.

She looked down at him disgustedly as he rolled over and cradled his head.

"I don't care what you think, Naruto. What I do with him on my own time is my business," she said, walking towards him, debating whether or not to help him up. She could smell blood when she got close. His body would heal itself before she could even start working on him, so she ignored his injury. "It was just one kiss."

She could hear him chuckle, and knew he was gearing up for more aggravation. "All the same, go easy on him. He's not as young as us. If you wear him out here, he might not be able to- Ow!" he said, but she hadn't hit him.

Maybe he got a burr in his butt.

"What the-" He concentrated a tiny bit of chakra in his hand until a blue light shone between them.

There was a black shuriken sticking out of the tree trunk behind Naruto. It had made a rent in his sleeve as he'd stood up. He plucked it out, and the two of them looked at one another.

It obviously wasn't one of theirs, and it had no village or maker's markings on it. It couldn't have been in that tree very long, it wasn't rusty or weathered at all. They both sensed around aggressively. She didn't detect anyone, and neither did he.

Naruto's face had become very grim. They both knew what this could mean. "Looks like there might be some other nin involved with this after all," he said.

Sakura nodded. "Let's go."


	6. A More Delicate Tread

Chapter 5

A More Delicate Tread

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A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

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While he waited for the other half of their team to return, and Sasuke did watch duty, Kakashi practiced the ninja art of the catnap, leaning back on a tree-trunk, mulling over what Sasuke had told him.

He had known something happened the moment his protege returned, seeing the other man's tight posture and slightly guilty eyes. What kind of flub could he have possibly made?

Ah, only the worst kind for a shinobi: being seen. Though it had not been an accident. Kakashi sometimes wondered whether Sasuke had built up some really bad karma in another life, as unpleasantness seemed to stalk him and drag him into it's parlor on a regular basis.

Nothing for it now. He didn't know whether Sasuke's encounter with the suicidal boy would be of any consequence, since they would be visiting Lord Morokawa fairly early in the day. It would be a formal diplomatic meeting, at Tsunade's request.

They could have abducted the man earlier and given him an ultimatum, with the provincial lord shivering in his pajamas, hanging upside down over a cliff. However, it had to be considered that the rice crop this area produced fed a good chunk of Konoha. It would be in their best interest to make an open display, to let Morokawa know his actions weren't being ignored, and that the Fire Country was intent on in bringing him back into the fold.

But what sort of deals had the lord already made with Yamimaki? Was it simply a matter of manpower exchanged for gold, or something more? According to Sasuke, the sick boy had said something about them being ruined. Did he mean the family or the town itself? And what of the sister he spoke of?

Like the boy, there was nothing in the files about her other than her name, age and relationship to the wayward lord. If nothing else, the knowledge that there could be some additional complications was always useful. It gave him ideas of where to look and how to pry into Morokawa's affairs. When and if the man cooperated.

Kakashi woke to the sound of Naruto's voice, a laugh, really, which the dead would have had difficulty sleeping through. He scrambled up, ignoring the stiffness that had settled into his legs and back with the cold. The sun was rising behind the clouds like a spotlight on a concrete wall, though the light had an unearthly diffused quality to it.

Naruto was already crouched next to Sasuke by the small camp stove, watching water boil. Kakashi smelled blood, along with the faint kerosene odor. He spotted a long red smudge on the left side of Naruto's face, but he obviously wasn't upset, or for that matter injured any longer. What could have happened?

"Oh, Kakashi, you're up. Take a look at this," said Sasuke. Kakashi stifled the urge to ask where Sakura was. He could sense her nearby, but he didn't see her. He moved into a crouch next to Sasuke, who held up a shuriken. "You've got a psychometric jutsu don't you? None of us have been able to find anything special about it, other than it was out in the middle of nowhere."

Kakashi's eyebrow raised. "I guess that isn't one of ours then," he said. The jutsu Sasuke spoke of was next to useless, unless Kakashi actually knew the person who had handled the object. It was much better for weeding out enemies within Konoha, than for sensing those without.

The only reason Sasuke knew about it was that Kakashi had used the jutsu against him, quite a few years back. It had been to figure out which one of his students had been reading his copy of Icha Icha Violence. Someone had minorly folded a page to mark their place. He'd already suspected Sasuke, as he had occasionally hung out at Kakashi's apartment when they weren't on a mission; while Naruto had friends to go to and Sakura responsibilities to her family. But it hadn't hurt to be certain.

Sasuke had been in disbelief that he had noticed what was barely even a millimeter of a fold. Kakashi had quickly disabused his student of the notion that he could do anything without his finding out and why. And as punishment, he hadn't taught him the jutsu.

He plucked the shuriken from Sasuke's gloved hand, laid it on the ground and did the seals: Sasuke had touched it, Naruto, then unknown signature, unknown signature, unknown signature. Which was reassuring, oddly enough. No one he knew was involved, and it gave him a point of reference when he finally did run into the sloppy shinobi who left it behind. "Nothing," he said. "I'll hold onto it if neither of you mind."

"Not at all."

"Nope."

He holstered it. Sakura still hadn't appeared. What was she doing?

He heard the unstealthy scrape of feet against bark, and looked up into the branches of the fir tree which sheltered them. Sakura jumped down, carrying what looked like a bundle of long, thick roots.

Ah, collecting medical supplies. That made sense, as not everything was available in Konoha, and she might not have the chance to get out this way for a while if it were something valuable.

He grinned to himself, seeing she was the only one of the three who was still wearing a mask, which he'd imposed since the air had gotten cold enough for their breath to be visible. Hers was actually made out of a dark green kerchief she sometimes used to hold her hair back, instead of the stretchy material that usually comprised a sort of turtleneck on their uniform shirts when not in use.

She seemed to have taken his idea to heart. Though he wasn't going to let her know it was backfiring completely. Now all he wanted to do was take it off of her, which led down tracks of thought better left unexplored. For the time being.

She had a knife out already, and stood cutting down her prizes to more portable lengths. A strong, astringent odor drifted towards them. He hoped she was planning to seal those up.

"Sakura, why don't you sit down and eat while there's still time?" said Naruto over the cup of instant miso he'd just made.

"Just let me finish this. I have to be careful, these are poisonous, but there's nothing better for treating-" she stopped as she finally saw the three of them looking up at her curiously. Her eyes widened and her cheeks colored a little. "Um, just a second," she said, kneeling down and pulling a scroll from her bag, then brushing a containment jutsu on the length of it.

Kakashi wondered if she had been about to say something potentially embarrassing, but she didn't seem inclined to give them any further explanation. The roots were quickly sealed into the scroll, and Sakura stowed it away, scent and all.

Once they had breakfasted and Kakashi was satisfied they had removed all traces of their presence, they headed towards Itsumidori.

They were all well familiar with the route by now, and the journey was brief and uneventful. Soon, they were walking down the main street as if they belonged there.

Of course, nothing could distract from the fact that they were a military unit, and by their headbands the nature of that unit was disclosed. Kakashi hated being out in the open like this, but it wouldn't be the first time he had to be a negotiator as well as a ninja. He hoped his three companions were taking notes. This kind of mission didn't come around often, and were left to the most highly-skilled shinobi to complete.

The cold hadn't fled with the sunrise, and while Sasuke had pulled his mask back up covering even his earlobes, Naruto was bald-faced as ever. He had the Kyuubi warming him from the inside.

Kakashi wouldn't be terribly surprised to see snow by the evening, but the cold didn't bother him overmuch, he much preferred it to extreme heat. There was the scent of coming precipitation and a quietness to the woods, almost as if the air and earth were impatient for some more interesting weather to occur.

Townspeople stopped and stared as they passed through the central portion of the town, moreso than they had in the bustling market area near the town gates. The genjutsu Sakura had temporarily put over them before they entered had been very effective, fading slowly as they neared the fortress.

He was still waiting for someone to stop them for questioning, but none of the patrolmen even tried. Pathetic cowards. He did see a few men scrambling up to the fortress though. Good, everything was going according to plan.

A contingent of twelve guards finally met them on the span that led to the fortress gate, escorting with them a man who was likely Morokawa's steward. The thin, balding figure was dressed in the rich robes of a person who didn't have to concern himself with manual labor.

The well-dressed fellow stepped forward to meet them on the bridge. "We have received no warning of a group of visiting ninja. Forgive me if I seem rude, but please state your purpose in Itsumidori," he said.

Kakashi suspected from the steward's tone of voice that he was well aware of the reason for their presence, but had to make a display of protest nonetheless. None of the men seemed to recognize Kakashi, though that wasn't unexpected in a border province like this. He was far more well-known in shinobi circles than civilian.

"I apologize if this is sudden," Kakashi said. "And of course we don't want to create a disturbance. However, it has been brought to the attention of our leader, the Hokage of Konoha, that Lord Morokawa might have some information that could be helpful to us, and we were sent to investigate. We also may have information that would interest him, and merely wish to speak to him on this matter." He kept his tone even, without betraying the barest hint of menace. The words were enough.

Highly composed, the steward nodded at them. "Of course. I am certain my lord will be glad to help you in any way at his disposal," he said, wisely not asking the nature of the information they sought. "Let us go inside, where it is warmer."

The guards parted before the steward and formed up again behind Kakashi's team, following them into the wide courtyard beyond the wall. Only two armed men joined them as the steward showed them up into the building.

They were led through several wide halls and stone passages to a large high-ceilinged room. Thick rugs covered the floors and large velvet cushions provided seating beside a long low table. A fireplace burned high and warmed the room nicely.

Morokawa's apron-clad servants came forward, bearing trays with hot tea and some simple fare for them to eat, while he and his team sat down, and waited for the master to arrive.

Sakura subtly did a poison check on their food, her hands forming seals under the table. Uncovering her face, she lifted the teacup to her lips. Naruto looked visibly relieved, and took one of the riceballs waiting on the rectangular platter almost immediately. Sasuke soon followed his example.

Camp food never was as satisfying as something made in a kitchen, but Kakashi really wasn't hungry. He thought more clearly on an empty stomach.

He looked around, noting the fine hangings and different objects that could be used as improvised weapons. Typically, he would not expend chakra on non-shinobi unless he was vastly outnumbered. This room was windowless, but had three exits. Kakashi knew they were near the center of the main building, and that a larger main hall sat off to the right.

They could always make additional exits with explosive tags or Sakura's chakra-enhanced strength, but a conventional escape was always preferable, should the necessity arrive.

He glanced briefly at the two guards who had been left by the main door. They were the very picture of nervousness, shifting on their feet, one of them occasionally rubbing the back of his neck, the other gripping and releasing the hilt of his sword. All normal reactions of men who had heard unpleasant stories about shinobi.

Sakura caught Kakashi's eye from where she sat diagonal to him, next to Naruto. She looked away almost immediately, so he wasn't sure if it was intentional or not. Echoes of her kiss slipped back into his thoughts.

He had never thought one woman could be so dangerous. Catching him by surprise like she had at the inn was almost unheard of. He remembered the feeling of the soft skin at the nape of her neck when he'd slid his hand behind her hair, pulling her closer. They'd been alone in the room, so there had been nothing holding them back except the table.

Kakashi bit the inside of his lower lip, and stuffed his emotions back into the compartment they kept slipping out of unbidden. He grabbed one of the rice crackers off the platter, pulling his mask down to his chin so he could nibble. He needed something to do while not paying attention to her, and taking out Icha Icha Survival was out of the question at a meeting like this.

What was taking the man so long?

After Naruto had munched his way through two rice balls, and Kakashi three crackers, Morokawa finally arrived with his steward and a young male servant in tow.

The lord wore robes suitable to receive important visitors in, of fine blue silk embroidered with red and white chrysanthemums. He even had a sort of flat-topped, red and gold headdress on, with baubles hanging off of it like a festival lantern.

Kakashi stood up, inclining his head respectfully, but not too much, and the others followed suit.

"It's been many years since I've had the privilege of a visit by members of the Hidden Leaf. Please, seat yourselves, and be welcome in my home." Morokawa said. "Tegara here explained to me that your esteemed Hokage seems to be in need of my aid." The lord was a tall, wide-shouldered, wide-cheeked man. His joints popped loudly as he sat down at the head of the table.

The four nin sank bonelessly back to their places. Sakura also stealthily knocked away a piece of rice that was sticking to Naruto's chin, and he scowled at her.

"It is so, my lord. The Godaime Hokage sends her warmest regards. I am Hatake Kakashi, her representative. My companions Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto will assist me." They each nodded as their names were mentioned. Kakashi introduced them only to imply that they were of similar rank to himself, but he would be their voice.

"I have heard of you. This must be a serious matter indeed," said Morokawa.

Kakashi could practically see him doing the math in his head of how much it would cost a daimyo to hire a group of ninja of their notoriety and skill level. Sweat appeared on the lord's brow. Kakashi resisted a smile, already feeling like a bit of a bully, but knowing there was still plenty of work to be done.

Now to state the obvious. "We believe it to be so. Let me come straight to it, as we are both very busy people. It is our understanding you have built up a sizable army, which you keep in order to defend your borders with the Rain and River Countries.

"We have no issue with this, but somehow, a number of troops carrying your banners seem to have arrived in the service of your northern neighbor, Yamimaki Hattori. Our Godaime requests these rogue troops be captured or brought back under your influence immediately. Their presence is threatening the Fire Country's treaties with both the Grass and the Stone," Kakashi explained, then calmly sipped at his tea.

Morokawa frowned as he listened to Kakashi, who had not made an outright accusation, but skirted about as close to one as possible. The man had been expecting this, but perhaps not so bluntly. "I'm afraid that will be difficult."

Kakashi read it as an outright 'no'. Now all he had to do was convince him that whatever Yamimaki had done for him, there would be greater advantage in taking what the Leaf offered.

"You must understand, that if there is a major threat from the Earth Country, it would more efficiently be dealt with by the shinobi of our village, rather than your own men. If that is what has occurred here," he said. What Morokawa said next actually shocked him.

"I do not see why it should be any of your concern what we do here. Battles between men should be fought by men. Battles between shinobi should be kept between shinobi. Perhaps you could convince your Stone friends to the north to stay out of the affairs of men, and we will deal with this situation in our own way."

The lord crossed his arms over his chest, as if he had the right to some sort of higher motive. It wasn't a foreign idea to Kakashi that there were people who disliked shinobi, but he'd seldom encountered someone who would say it to his face.

"And what is the situation?" asked Kakashi, keeping his temper in check.

"Lord Yamimaki seeks to reclaim his family's ancestral lands. I have seen documentation which backs up his right to them. He has informed me there will be little to no loss of life, as the land is largely unoccupied and the border undefended," replied the lord.

Though his face did not express his extreme disbelief, Kakashi still couldn't help but scratch the back of his head. "I dislike to contradict what the lord has claimed. Perhaps he has not seen fit to tell you how he has been using your men, or the actual population of the area, particularly near the river."

Saying this was about equivalent to calling Morokawa an out-of-touch idiot, but Kakashi kept on.

"It is known that he has already razed several villages, besides some minor skirmishes on the borders of Stone. We have no choice but to become involved once our interests are threatened. And we are fairly certain that Yamimaki is employing nin of his own, whether you know it or not." Kakashi could see Naruto's mouth twitching, as if he was about to burst out with an epithet at the stubborn lord, for turning a blind eye to Yamimaki's actions.

Kakashi gave him a significant glance and the yellow-haired nin sat back on his cushion, frowning. Sasuke and Sakura watched and listened, betraying no reaction.

"Regardless, I would request you keep any of your battles at a distance from my men and my home. It is well known that the landscape is prone to changing in fights between powerful shinobi, and I would prefer to avoid this. I understand your desire to defend the weak, as I have these feelings myself, but I am already committed. I cannot betray my ally," said Morokawa, shaking his head.

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, and almost chuckled. "Your friend may have already gone too far, my lord. I'm offering you this opportunity to not only avoid his fate, but perhaps gain something valuable in return for your cooperation."

Morokawa seemed to relax a little. He had been waiting for this part of the conversation too. "It is no use, but I will at least hear your offer," he conceded.

"We have heard your son is very ill, incurably so. Haruno-san is a highly skilled medic-nin, she may be able to help him if you will let her see him," said Kakashi, nodding towards Sakura, who inclined her head slightly to the acknowledgment.

The man paled, and he looked back at his steward who had been silently watching, kneeling behind his master, along with the servant. "That you should know even that..." he paused. "It is impossible. I could accept your offer, and I am tempted to do so, but for the fact that you can make me no guarantees. The commitment I have made precludes it."

"Very well. May I ask of you the nature of this commitment, that you would sacrifice your son's life over it?" A little arm twisting might bring him around.

Morokawa considered his question, and finally said, "My daughter, Senko, eloped with Yamimaki's eldest son six months ago. I was forced to give my blessing, as I love my daughter and wish her to be happy. She leads the division of men who are assisting her husband's father, and they are loyal to her. She and my son-in-law have expressed interest in uniting our two provinces..." The lord pursed his lips.

Perhaps Morokawa actually would allow his daughter to start a war under his nose out of fatherly affection, but at best it was a convenient cover for his own actions.

Kakashi finished the sentence for him, with his own thoughts. "And they intend to absorb the Grass and part of the Stone lands to most predictable ends." Kakashi shook his head, though his voice was still calm and even. "What do they intend to call it? Dirt Country? Ash Country? Nothing good can come of their intentions."

If the girl had eloped, why hadn't the man ridden out and dragged his daughter back by the ear? Kakashi hadn't considered that the man would abandon his son for dead, but he still had a few cards to play.

"I understand your concern, but I am obliged to support my daughter in her endeavor," said Morokawa with regrettable finality.

"That is unfortunate. You are aware that there is a good chance that your daughter could lose her life as well, participating in this. It will not be long until the Earth Country sends its own men to deal with them. Perhaps you need more time to consider." Kakashi said, neglecting to add that the Stone-nin were unlikely to bother to negotiate once the leaders of the Earth Country sent them out.

Kakashi noticed that the lord's steward had begun glancing nervously back and forth from his master to his own folded hands. "My lord-" said the man finally. "My lord, I think that you should at least take some time to think on what Hatake-san has said."

"What is there left to consider?"

Another voice piped up. "I will take a look at your son, and determine if there is anything I can do. If that might sway your thoughts in the slightest," said Sakura.

Kakashi looked over at her sharply, as this had not been something they had discussed in advance. She held his irritated gaze, her chin tilting up a little. He knew that look. There was no way Sakura was going to back down now. "If that is agreeable to you, my lord," she added, hands demurely in her lap.

Kakashi said nothing. Considering that he was about ready to pull out the scroll with the letter of credit the Godaime had given him to offer to Morokawa, it might not hurt.

Morokawa rubbed his temples. "Very well. But I warn you, three doctors from three different villages have already concluded he is dying of an untreatable disease. Also, the doctor Yamimaki brought in said nothing could be done, and he was supposedly skilled with the chakra magic you people use. I will not get my hopes up, but I will let you at least make the attempt."

"I will do my best," said Sakura.

"If you please, you may stay the night here. Tegara is right, I need to give this more thought." He nodded towards his steward. "Find them accommodations, and I will take the healer to see Sengaku," he said, as he got up.

Sakura looked over to Kakashi. "Go ahead. We can stay, at least for now," he told her, and uneasily watched her follow the man out of the hall.

She was fully able to defend herself, or escape if she were attacked. Kakashi was more concerned that the boy might die of his illness while Sakura was with him, and that Morokawa would blame her.

Tegara made a short bow to the three of them after his master was out of sight. "I apologize that my lord was so short with you. He has been under a great deal of strain of late. I will leave you here for the time being as I must arrange your rooms, but feel free to ask Aya for anything you need." He gestured to the youth who knelt on a mat near the wall, and who inclined his head at them. The steward left.

Turning to the servant, Kakashi said, "Aya, it would seem our tea has gone cold." The young man scurried away to fetch more.

Kakashi decided to leave the guards alone for the time being. Nothing he intended to discuss was particularly sensitive. He looked over at Sasuke who had been glaring in the direction of the armed men himself. Kakashi saw the tell-tale red glow already fading from his eyes.

The guards didn't look like they were acting any differently, but he'd done something. He wouldn't have used the Mangekyou on them, would he? Kakashi hadn't felt a major surge of chakra from the Uchiha. Regardless, he knew it had to be a Genjutsu of some sort.

Sasuke only smiled a little at Kakashi's curious glance. "They're just minorly hypnotized. They won't remember anything we say, and it'll be broken the moment I leave the room."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose, and he sighed, but Naruto growled at the man. "You use that sort of thing way too easily, Sasuke."

The black-haired jounin shrugged. "Do you want them to be in on this?"

"There are other ways," said Naruto.

Before the two of them could get into a prolonged and eventually violent argument, Kakashi intervened, "In any case, we have a few seconds to discuss this, so let me make it brief. If Sakura is successful, I expect Morokawa to give over to us.

"However, he really may not have any control over his daughter or the men she took, at this point. He said as much, and I'm wondering if his reluctance is as much out of embarrassment as concern for his daughter. If we promise not to harm her it might put us in good stead, since I think his additional aid may be needed once we locate Yamimaki."

"What for? Can't we take care of this ourselves?" Naruto scratched his head.

"We have power, but we don't have numbers. We can hit specific targets hard and fast, but to actually securely occupy territory, you need an army – and not an army of clones, Naruto," he said, as Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"If we can convince him to overrun Yamimaki's land, it will just make our job that much easier. Yamimaki is going to be dead any way you look at it, once we find him. Someone is going to have to maintain order." Kakashi finished explaining, just as he heard the faint pad of the servant's stocking feet before he opened the door holding a tray.

Kakashi pulled out Icha Icha Survival, and Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and then back at him. "What?" he said. "Do you want me to read it out loud?"

Sasuke conveniently produced a deck of cards.

All they could do was wait.


	7. A Clearer View

Chapter 6

A Clearer View

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A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

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The first thing Sakura ascertained when she sat down in a chair next to Morokawa Sengaku, was that he was definitely dying.

The dark-haired boy was awake, but unresponsive, dehydrated, had a low temperature, with a weak heartbeat, and an utterly wasted body. It was amazing he hadn't had massive organ failures already. It was urgent she start immediately.

Something was slowly eating him from the inside, a cancer, a virus. Death was not far off. His father stood behind her, close to the door, arms crossed and face impassive.

"How long has he been ill?" she asked.

"It's been about six months now. Since the beginning of spring, when he first collapsed. Not long after his sister left. We thought at first it was just melancholy over that, but he was still eating and laughing then. Just weak and in pain," he said, with the tone of someone who has explained the situation to a supposed professional in the healing arts before.

She could understand his wary behavior. She didn't know yet if she would be able to do anything for Sengaku, but she was certainly willing to fight for his life, even if his father had given up.

Sakura nodded. "Is there anything else that you've been giving him besides what is on this table?" She gestured to the various jars and bottles on the boy's nightstand.

"His manservant keeps the medicine in a locked cabinet. Sen tried to overdose a month ago, so we've been more careful."

"Overdose?"

"On the painkillers,"said Morokawa.

Looking at the boy, she shook her head grimly. "Have the servant bring me everything that he's been taking. I need to ask him about the boy's treatment as well," Sakura said, and the man left.

She quickly went to work, clearing off another table and dragging it over to the bedside, where she laid out two scrolls and unzipped her medic bag. She didn't have everything she needed in the medical instrument scroll for this kind of patient, since usually she dealt with massive physical trauma or poisons, but she could improvise on some of it.

He couldn't be transported, that was for certain. Also, if they had been giving him painkillers and sedatives, it was likely he had developed an addiction to one or more of them. Even stabilizing him wouldn't remove that risk. Suddenly stopping the drugs would make him sick again.

What a mess.

Sakura sucked her breath through her teeth. So the first few hours of this were going to be damage control. She wouldn't be able to do any real healing until she was certain he wouldn't immediately go into shock and die.

It was a good thing she liked a challenge.

Morokawa returned with an older gentleman, who bore with him a small bundle hastily wrapped in a cloth. She took it from him and as she read the labels on the bottles it contained, she began firing off a long list of questions.

How much, she asked for each one, how often, when did he start on it, who recommended it, where did they get the medicine, since ingredients differed from country to country. When she was satisfied, she sent the servant off to find some items she thought wouldn't be too difficult to procure even in this backwater.

The lord seemed satisfied to stand back and watch, but she needed another pair of hands. "While your man is gone, would you build up the fire?" she said, using her no-nonsense medic voice. He followed her orders without question and soon the room was considerably warmer.

The servant hurriedly brought up fresh sheets and another had carried in a pitcher of ordinary water and a pot of boiling water. They had sent someone out into town for the other items. She continued barking out instructions to the servants as she rigged the saline drip she'd had in one of the scrolls to the bedpost and quickly got it flowing into his arm. Then her helpers delicately moved the fragile boy, changing the bed in an efficient manner, before undressing him and removing his bandages.

He had poultices on the various sores and skin problems that had cropped up over the course of his illness. She made some tut-tut noises to herself, knowing that some of these could have been prevented with proper patient care. Once everything was set up to her satisfaction, she did the sterilization jutsu over her tools and work area again and pulled on a pair of medical gloves.

"I'm going to need an assistant in here at all times," she said over her shoulder to Morokawa, who was still looking at her oddly after she had performed such a minor jutsu. "This part is going to take a while so your people may want to set up shifts. My lord, you don't have to stay if you don't want to." Sakura kept her tone light, to attempt to subtly inform him he wasn't needed, and possibly in the way.

"Very well, do what you need to do. You seem to at least be somewhat competent," he replied with a sneer, and he turned to the boy's manservant. "Let me know if anything changes." The other man nodded.

Sengaku's eyelids fluttered every now and then, until his sunken eyes opened. He watched her as she applied bandages bearing assorted pre-made jutsus. He said nothing, though she had asked him a few questions, and gotten a bit of water past his dry lips. There was almost nothing left of him to save. He was like a stalk of sun-dried grass, thin and brittle. So very close to the brink.

It took about as long as she had surmised to get to the point where she could do the actual delving jutsu and find the source of the illness. Though the longer she worked on him, the more she became certain that his ailment was not entirely natural.

Every person had a chakra system, though generally only shinobi were trained how to use it. His chakra was unbalanced and drained, not surprising, but the diseases she could pick out in her mind that would cause it weren't the sort that would cause this kind of wasting. She had been flipping through the huge diagnosis manual she had plucked out of one of her scrolls, but nothing fit.

It had to be a man-made disease. But why would someone kill the boy in such a drawn out manner? There were so many easier, faster, less detectable ways to commit murder. She thought of the boy's sister who had run away to the Yamimaki clan, and who seemed to be the most plausible suspect. She realized that she shouldn't make judgments like that without more evidence, but it bore consideration.

Perhaps the person who did this hadn't expected him to be so strong.

She would have to think about these things later though. Right now the priority was getting to the source and destroying it if possible.

Eventually, she found it.

"There it is," she mumbled to herself. It was like a spot in his body next to his stomach that her chakra seemed to slip around and ignore, or push away. It was this resistance she noticed finally, after having slowly run her chakra through his body twice before. Sakura grimaced, wondering how he'd gotten something like it in him, and knowing the pain must be excruciating. No wonder he was so thin, it had to be very difficult to eat.

"What is it?" she heard Naruto say behind her.

She was so intent on her work, she didn't notice when he had slipped in. She looked over her shoulder, though she didn't lose her concentration enough to break the delving jutsu.

Naruto was sitting, leaning an elbow on his knee in the chair where one of the servants had been waiting the last time she'd made a request...which must have been around noon. The small window to her left showed it was starting to get dark. She had to have been working for about twelve hours straight.

She scowled at him, but he got up and came over anyway. "I'll give you some chakra if you want."

"Wait," she said. A sudden surge of energy would definitely be more trouble than it was worth. She found the object again, and wrapping her chakra around it, drew it from the boy's body, sealing the hole behind it as she pulled.

It was very tedious work, requiring all of her concentration. Sengaku wasn't the most difficult patient she'd ever had, but he was definitely going to make her top twenty. If he lived. He was still in a precarious state.

She grabbed a small metal tray and quickly, with her chakra, transferred the object from laying on the boy's abdomen onto the tray. It looked like a steel ball, a little over a centimeter around. Sakura splashed a bit of water from the pitcher over it to wash the small amount of blood off and they could see it was engraved entirely with deep, evil-looking script.

It had to have been made by a shinobi, a skilled one, and likely introduced into Sengaku's body by a shinobi as well.

"This is what has been making him sick. It's a noroi-tama, a cursed bullet, and it was lodged in the lining of his stomach. He had to have swallowed it somehow, or maybe someone planted it within him. I don't understand it, there's no scarring or other apparent entry point."

She'd also never seen such a well-made one. Usually they were rough and made of soft metal, with a few crude characters scratched on them, then used as sling projectiles or thrown at high speed by a strong nin. A noroi-tama burrowed into the skin upon contact, and then drove itself deep into the victim immediately beginning to poison them. This one was cast and highly polished. Someone had put a good deal of work into it.

"Whoa," said Naruto. "Do you want me to go tell Kakashi?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not yet. Since you offered, I'm going to use you for a bit. I'm about tapped out, and I need to get his chakra back in balance so he can heal faster."

"Sure," he said.

They'd worked together like this before, and he knew the procedure. He leaned over her shoulders, ear to ear with her, and placed his hands over hers. He introduced his chakra slowly so he didn't burn her. Sometimes he didn't know his own strength.  
She could sense the Kyuubi distantly, but Naruto's own untainted energy flowed in without difficulty. As it circulated through her chakra system she felt re-invigorated.

She was extremely glad it hadn't been Kakashi who had come up to check on her. She felt her heart jump at the very thought. She wasn't even sure he would have offered, but doing something like this would be entirely too intimate, considering what they were trying to avoid.

With Naruto it was alright, since they knew each other inside and out. Their affection was like that of siblings at this point. With his chakra flowing through her, Sakura even got a sense of how Naruto was feeling, overlaid with her own emotions. She knew how deeply he missed his family, and how impatient he was to get home.

"Stop worrying," he said.

She chuckled; apparently it went both ways. "We're almost through here. Now that that thing is gone, Sengaku should be able to get through the night without any problems," she said, allowing herself a small amount of relief.

"Am I going to have to carry you out?" he asked, leaning his head against hers, annoying and fond.

"I don't know yet. First, I need you to go find Kakashi and Lord Morokawa. They must be told of this. You can get Sasuke up to speed in the meantime."

If Kakashi had to carry her out... Well she'd cross that bridge when she came to it. She was going to fall asleep from chakra exhaustion within about a half-hour of finishing here anyway. Very unromantic. "Okay, you can stop now."

He withdrew his chakra slowly, an unpleasant sensation, going from being able to work for a few more hours, to almost completely empty. "Find them quick, I'm going to pass out soon," she warned.

She watched his back as he hurried out. There were still things to do. She began writing out instructions in simple language for the servants, on which medicines to give the boy and how much and when. While she was wondering if she was wasting her time, since she didn't know if the people around here were literate or not, Morokawa ran in, followed by his steward and Sengaku's manservant. All were obviously astounded at her progress.

"He's going to live?" cried Morokawa. The change in the man was incredible. He ran over to his son's bedside, and seemed as if he was about to grab the boy's hand, but pulled back, remembering his fragile state.

She could see tears in his eyes, which she found slightly shocking coming from such a large and intimidating-looking man. Though, come to think of it, she'd seen bigger, scarier men crying. Setting a broken bone, or amputating a limb was never pleasant. He had truly given up hope.

Still leaning over the table, finishing her instructions and fighting the urge to close her eyes, Sakura finally looked up. She realized that she was starting to imitate Tsunade's professional detachment more and more exactly, the older she got.  
"He is still seriously ill, but provided he receives his medicine, works slowly back to eating solid food, and gets a bit of light exercise, there is a chance he might recover fully," she said, ticking off points on her hand.

"How? What was making him sick?" the steward asked, his lined face still full of disbelief, tempered by what she could only describe as joy.

She looked up as she sensed Kakashi near and then saw him come in. He glanced around the now crowded room, and his eye found Morokawa's son, before settling on her.

She looked away from him, and picked up the brushed metal tray sitting on top of one of her books. The noroi-tama rolled around on it. "This was inside of your son," she said to Morokawa. "It carries a curse within, and has essentially been eating him alive for the past six months, while giving him great pain in his abdomen. I'll have to study it and see if I can figure out who made it. I can not tell at this point how it got inside of him."

Kakashi stepped over. "Mind if I look at that?" he said, pointing at the silver ball. She nodded, and he picked it up and rolled it around on his hand. No doubt he'd notice something she had missed. He usually did.

"I'll explain what you need to do to care for him. Then I need to rest," she said, and calmly gave them a more detailed rundown.

When she was done she handed the list of instructions to the tear-streaked lord, who read it, mumbling about impossible miracles and then handed it off to the steward. Who would probably hand it off to the servant when she was gone. She didn't care who had it as long as it got done.

"When I have my energy back, I'll come look in on him again," she said finally. Kakashi had appeared at her elbow, perfectly aware of how exhausted she was.

"I can collect your things later. Do you want to try to walk?" he asked, leaning down. She doubted her feet would hold her very long, but she nodded.

Everything in her medical kit was strewn across two tables and the floor, so it would probably be a good idea to put it all up before one of the servants hurt themselves. Her pack was leaning against the wall, and she knew she would collapse under it's weight if she tried to carry it.

Sakura hooked an arm around Kakashi's shoulders. "Help me stand, and then we'll see." Her legs held her about five seconds after she willed her body to get up, giving out like they were made of wet clay.

He'd been ready to catch her, and scooped her up easily. Kakashi adjusted her weight against him a little, and loped out of the room without a backward glance. Sakura rested her head on his shoulder, and let herself go limp as a doll. She was done, there was no fighting it.

Kakashi shook his head. "You really pushed it. I should have sent Naruto up sooner."

She managed a little shrug, "It wouldn't have made any difference. I have to convert the chakra and then use it, which still eats up my own reserves," she said, moving her head over a bit.

His shoulder was all lean muscle, hard and spare like the rest of him, and it was difficult to find a place to rest her ear that was entirely comfortable, even with the jacket for padding. Finally, she settled on the spot between his shoulder and clavicle. Sakura could hear his heart, a steady pleasant thump.

She was going to fall asleep like this, she just knew it. Not that it was a bad thing. "Besides, I pumped most of Naruto's chakra into the boy to keep his heart going, while I did some slightly more dangerous work on his chakra system."

"You know it could be days before you're able to travel," he said, passing through a large high-ceilinged room that was unfamiliar to her, before entering another stone corridor, which was lined with doors.

She laughed, since he had the bad habit of being the one to overdo it with his Sharingan.

Kakashi looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

She smiled to herself. "Nothing. I'll have to monitor the boy anyway. And Morokawa hasn't given you an answer yet," she said.

They had essentially guaranteed his cooperation now. It gave her a sense of relief, not just that the boy would have a chance, but that she'd been useful to the mission. Sakura didn't mind letting Kakashi take care of her for the time being. Not that she was strong enough to stop him.

"No, I imagine he'll want to talk over breakfast, If he doesn't find some other way to deal with us in the mean time," he said, stopping finally in front of a door. He held her up closer as he freed an arm to open it. "But don't worry about that. You'll probably sleep at least till noon. Actually, I can't believe you're still awake."

She wanted to say, 'Silly, I'm trying to enjoy this while it lasts', but all that came out was a yawn and, "Mmmhmm."

As bedrooms went, it was rather dungeonlike, with no window and minimal furniture. There were two narrow beds, one in each corner, and between them sat a table with an oil lamp which was already lit, a washbasin and pitcher, and some extra blankets on a flat-topped chest.

An excellent room to stow a guest who you didn't want to stay long, and didn't need to impress.

Kakashi set her down on the left-hand bed, so that she was sitting leaning against the cold wall, and then sat down next to her. He pulled one of her legs up to his lap take her boot off, while she unzipped her flak jacket and shrugged out of it.

Sakura sighed to herself. Smelly feet did not normally mesh well with amorous inclinations. Or at least they hadn't. Right now, taking her shoes off was one of the nicest things he could have possibly done for her. She knew Kakashi had this gentle side to him, but he didn't get many opportunities to show it.

He'd have helped his other teammates similarly, but she could tell he was taking his time with her, being careful not bend her toes or ankle the wrong way. It made her feel warm inside. "Thank you," she said, as she pulled her hair down, feeling even sleepier.

"Don't mention it." He dropped her other boot next to its mate, and she pushed off the wall to flop onto her back, while Kakashi helped her with the cover. "Just rest," he said, his mouth in a sort of compressed smile. Concern maybe? He brushed her cheek with his fingers, and the slight tickle was the last thing she remembered.

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Kakashi lingered at her bedside for a moment, looking down at her as she slept, pale hair splayed on the pillow. A peaceful face, satisfied with a job well done. And it had been. She really was something else. Someone precious.

No one else except perhaps Tsunade could have found that wicked little ball. Even now as he plucked it out of his pocket and rolled it around in his hand, he could feel it trying to find a way to eat into him and steal his chakra.

He knew how to repel its influence, as he'd dealt with things like this before, but it was a bit annoying. Kakashi had seen something similar, many years ago, when the Leaf was still at war with the Hidden Stone. But the man who had made them for the Stone had been dead for almost twenty years now.

There were people who collected odd weapons and jutsus, but that didn't seem quite right. The more he thought about it the less he liked the answer he was coming up with. It deserved further thought, and he'd have to address his concerns with Morokawa.

For now, he had to decide what to do about Sakura. Since this portion of the mission was complete, they didn't really need her with them. Kakashi was considering leaving her behind before she woke, to avoid any arguments. Of course, if he left her behind without telling her first, he might not like the response he got if he returned in an injured state. Or any state for that matter.

Sakura had never really taken her temper out on him, but Naruto frequently seemed to be on the receiving end of it, and it looked painful. Perhaps he should run his idea by the other two as well. Just to make sure he wasn't overreacting out of some newly-awakened overprotective instinct. Then again, bringing the other two in on his decision would make it obvious he was questioning his own judgment.

He stood up and paced a bit, trying to clear his head. The most logical thing to do would be to see what condition she was in when they were ready to move out, which depended on Morokawa. If she hadn't recovered by then, she would have to stay behind whether she liked it or not. The mission was too important, and she was certainly enough of a professional to understand that.

Turning down the lamp until it was a faint glow, Kakashi left her to sleep. He'd have to send someone to bring her a big breakfast in the morning, Sakura was going to be ravenous when she woke.

He hurried back upstairs to gather the things she'd left behind in Sengaku's room, frightening a servant who didn't hear him come in. "Ah, sorry," he said. Kakashi had arrived just in time. The man had been leaning over Sakura's workspace, poking around.

The old manservant retreated, saying something about bringing up more firewood. Sighing, Kakashi glanced over at the boy. He looked like he was sleeping, though the blankets scarcely moved with his breaths.

The objects on the table where Sakura had been working were laid out in an orderly fashion. He identified each piece and where it belonged. Then he deactivated the summons on several of the items, sending them into the time-space that the equipment scroll suspended them in, and carefully rolled it back up.

He tucked everything back in her medic bag, and hopefully she could find what she was looking for the next time she opened it. Sakura was an exceedingly organized person. As long as her things weren't all in a jumble, he should be alright.

Trotting downstairs again, the two packs over his shoulder, Kakashi headed towards the small parlor where he had left Naruto and Sasuke. He opened the door to the pair locked in an arm-wrestling match. Neither was winning, and both were concentrating so hard, they didn't notice him arrive. Kakashi shook his head at his useless former students, and left his burdens inside the door.

It was time for a good soak in whatever passed for a bath in this place. He needed to think and relieve some tension.


	8. Long Ripple

Chapter 7

Long Ripple

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A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

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Counting the spaces between the slats of the ceiling for the tenth time, Sasuke finally got up from the uncomfortable chair and started pacing. He had always had difficulty sitting still, and right now he felt particularly restless. His area to pace was limited, but he'd rather be here in this dim, musty chamber than upstairs listening to Kakashi get the run around from that deceiving bastard.

Oh, Morokawa had opened up all right, once his son was out of the woods, although Kakashi had to drag it all out of him through quite a bit of fancy indirect questioning.

If Sasuke had interpreted what he'd heard correctly; interspersed with the talk about agriculture and the history of the area, there had been a good deal of information about where his "rogue" troops were heading and when, exactly who else had already thrown in with Yamimaki, and the routes their supply lines were going to be taking.

Just another war. All of this was so typical - one man wanting another's money and resources, and willing to annihilate anything in his path for it. These men didn't seem to care about the lives they were threatening or the destruction that would inevitably result.

Sasuke had gotten high marks in history like everything else at the academy. He knew of the horrors which the last three great shinobi conflicts had brought about, and how much war had cost the Leaf. And yet they were shinobi, and they needed war. It was their life's work. Frequently a short life's work.

The hidden villages would be further sucked into this one way or another. Kakashi had already mentioned that he was suspicious of the Stone being involved. Of course, Kakashi had a deep-seated hatred for the Stone, which made him prejudiced in that direction. Not that he wasn't being realistic. There was a reason the Grass had been formed as a buffer state.

Naruto seemed to be taking a great interest in what was being said for some reason, but bored, pissed off and in dire need of stretching his legs, Sasuke had decided to take a break and check on Sakura. And now he couldn't leave.

Seeing her lay there helpless, made things he didn't like to think about stir up in the depths of his consciousness, like air bubbles rising from the bottom of a dark lake. These thoughts rippled out and touched other bits of memory and concern, widening, running in circles.

Sasuke paced some more, only to stop, turn, and look at her again. She remained curled up on her side, softly breathing. So many things he wanted to tell her, so many things he couldn't take back if he did. Why had he waited so long? He had barely slept last night, even though he was thoroughly exhausted. He'd ended up exploring the fortress and doing exercises out on the rooftops, trying to distract himself.

"Sasuke?"

He swung around on his heel to face the bed. She was still laying flat but her face was turned towards him, jade eyes open mere slits. She was frowning at him as she often did these days. Somehow, he found the expression preferable to the mindless adoration she'd displayed when they were children. Sakura was really looking at him, seeing who he really was. She was not pleased at all.

"You hungry?" he said. He was an idiot for coming here.

"Thirsty. What's wrong? Did something happen?" Sakura was attempting to sit up, struggling weakly.

He poured her a glass of water from the decanter that accompanied the tray of food he'd brought with him. She had barely managed to prop herself up against the wall, her hair was tangled and stringy, eyes bloodshot in her pale face. She looked awful.

"Morokawa's talking. From what he's said, it's bad. It's really bad." He supported the glass as he handed it to her, until he was sure she had a good grip on it. Her arm was shaking though.

The thought crossed his mind that he should have let that kid die if this was the end result. A stupid, stupid thought. This was what love was. It made the mind weak, and vulnerable to unreasonable things. Like revenge. Like jealousy.

"Are we going to be able to complete the mission?" she asked.

He plunked the chair down over at her bedside, carrying the tray of food in the other hand. He sat down, setting the tray on his lap. "There may still be time, but it's going to probably require us leaving the moment Kakashi's done grilling that bleeding traitor."

"I see." Sakura rested the glass on her thigh and she plucked a square chunk of noxiously sweet-smelling hot-house melon off the fruit plate with her fingers. "I'll have to stay here then."

"You can catch up later," he said.

"Maybe." He could tell she was already upset at the thought of being left behind, by the disappointed look on her face. "I have to monitor the boy. And it will be a few days until my chakra is completely replenished. I suppose I should have realized..."

"I don't know what Kakashi wants to do yet. He hasn't said anything, but don't think we should leave you here alone while you're weak. I don't trust these people," Sasuke said, waiting for her to go off on him for calling her weak.

She smiled a little. "If I rest all day, I should have enough energy to at least get away if there's a threat. Also, we can always tell him that I'll reverse the healing on the boy if he tries anything. He won't know what I can and can't do."

Normal people often overestimated the abilities of shinobi, if they weren't used to them being around. Sakura for the most part had to be in physical contact or very close range with her patient to work any medical jutsus.

He'd never known her to purposefully harm someone she had just healed without a very good reason. Though she did have a habit of smacking Naruto, regardless of his condition. The man would never get a swelled head even if he did become Hokage.

"Yes, but that's supposing he doesn't have any shinobi tucked away around here," Sasuke said.

"Wouldn't one of us have sensed them by now? Kakashi would have." She was so confident in their team leader. Not that she was wrong, but Kakashi wasn't perfect. The only thing he had over Sasuke or Naruto was experience. "What's that look for?" she said.

"Huh?" He sat up straight.

Her mouth had a wry twist to it. "Tell me what's on your mind. You don't seek me out deliberately unless you've got something to say to me, Sasuke."

Was he that transparent? Well, they had known one another since they were children. "I just don't like seeing you like this," he said.

"It's not that bad. You've had chakra exhaustion before, you know what it's like. I'll be fine," she said. Her eyes were narrowed at him expectantly, but he remained silent. She sighed, and he frowned away from her, so she ate in silence.

Finally, she handed the glass back to him, and he took it and the tray back over to the table. He wasn't sure whether to leave her or not. Sasuke had wanted to talk, but the words wouldn't come.

"Sasuke, could you help me? I need to go check on Sengaku," she said.

His body froze. There was no reason not to help her. Other than having to hold her. Sasuke turned to see her pulling her hair back and tying it with a green cloth. She swept her legs to the side of the bed and he marveled as she managed to stand on her own.

Then Sakura reached out for his arm to steady herself. She was making up his mind for him, and his arm appeared in place to support her before she could lose her balance.

"Thanks," she said.

"Um, sure." So he helped her upstairs, if not entirely willingly.

When they got there she immediately had him take her to sit next to Sengaku on his bed, and Sasuke watched her examine the lord's son.

The sick boy's sunken eyes were open and he watched Sakura, but didn't say a word the entire time she worked with him, laying there limply. All communication was done through the servant who hovered at the foot of the bed. This annoyed Sasuke profusely, and by the time Sakura had finished, he was ready to go over and smack the kid.

He kept his mouth shut until they left though. "Snotty little brat," Sasuke said, as he helped her down the stairs again.

Sakura shrugged. "He's been through a lot. And he must know that his father is in trouble. I wouldn't be too hard on him," she said. Why was she always so forgiving? Her temper should be running over into rage at the sort of uppity behavior the boy had demonstrated.

"Hmph. Trouble isn't the word. More like disaster," he said, adjusting his left arm while supporting her. Not that there was much to hold on to, she was so tiny.

"Yeah. Do you know if this place has an indoor bath?"

"Um-"

"Maybe you could scrub my back," she said. By her tone of voice he could tell she was joking. He hoped she was joking.

He looked down at her, and her eyes said she could be considering the possibility. A strange feeling blossomed in his chest. Hell, what could it hurt? She did need help. Why not a friend instead of a stranger? It wasn't like he'd never seen a naked woman before.

"You do currently have the dexterity of a drunken ninety-year-old," he replied, with a small grin. He began steering her towards the visitor's baths, down the hall from the visitor's water closet. According to Kakashi, the fortress had good facilities, making use of a nearby thermal spring.

She laughed nervously. "I was just kidding, Sasuke."

"It doesn't matter, I can help," he said. Her shoulders had gone stiff, but she didn't refuse.

The old-fashioned bathroom was unoccupied, filled with steam and stocked for no less than four people, with a basket of towels and washcloths, a folded stack of robes, soap all on the table and even a shelf to stow their things.

To his left, below the three high, wide windows, were a polished set of faucets protruding from the white-tiled wall, draining into the well-scrubbed gray tile floor. A large, white, rectangular heated bath, with room enough for an entire family, took up the opposite side.

He plopped her down on the wooden stool near the faucets, facing so that she could lean back against the tile, and went to lock the door. She was looking up at him, her frown as deep as he'd ever seen it, when he turned back around and squatted down, so his face was on a level with hers.

_This is it_, he thought, _it's past time we had a real talk_. The one they hadn't had at the restaurant six months ago. He shook his head at her. "You know how some things I say bother you?" he said. "Like back at the practice field when you got angry with me?"

"Sasuke-"

He shook his head. "Scrub your back? Don't tease me, Sakura. I can't stand it. You know how I feel about you," he said, pinning her with a glare. There was no chakra behind it, but he thought for a moment she honestly looked scared.

As if he'd really turn the Sharingan on her again. Damn it, he wasn't that man anymore. Why did the past have to poison everything?

"I don't have a clue how you feel, you ass. You won't talk to me," she said in sharp, angry tones. "I left you alone like you wanted me to. Or is your engagement to that Hyuuga girl just a joke?"

How to respond? She was telling the truth. He supposed he had hoped she'd ignore that and keep coming to bother him. Okay, not bother, maybe more like pay attention to him. What was he thinking? That was stupid. Maybe he was a bit crackbrained after all.

"I know. I know I've got that commitment, but I never thought you'd just cut me off like this."

Sakura's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "What? I have no idea what you just said. It makes no sense at all. I have never cut you off, Sasuke. You cut yourself off. I'm here, listening. So tell me those things you've been turning around in that black hole you call a mind, which apparently I'm supposed to be able to read."

He leaned back from her as her words got more vicious while she leaned forward. "Sa-" he tried to interrupt, but she kept going.

"No, you listen. I've always tried to be available, but I just sat waiting. I waited for too long, Sasuke. You made your plans, you'll have your pedigreed wife. I've already told you I'm not going to be your god-damned toy on the side. I'm going to try my luck with someone who actually might care about me. If you seriously believe I'm going to fuck it up on your account, I won't forgive you. Not in this life."

"You're serious then? Kakashi?"

Her face was bright with anger. "Hell yeah. Not that it's any of your damn business," she said, making a very Naruto-esque expression. Then she started to pull up her shirt. "If you're going to stand around, why don't you bring me some things out of that basket?" she said.

He was still squatting, staring at her in disbelief. She leaned forward and pecked him on the mouth, with the most sisterly and yet angry kiss he thought was possible, shocking him anew.

He obeyed her, numb with surprise. She didn't so much as blush, apparently too tired or angry to care, and as she weakly scrubbed at her hair, he washed her back as promised.

"Hmph. Our kids will do this for us when we're old," he said. If he lived that long. She was going to kill him.

She looked back up at him. "Kids? Well, that won't be for a while for either of us I'm sure," she laughed, leaning forward and rinsing her hair again under the tap.

"Ah, well, that was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about."

"Eh?"

"You see, I've got two children from the time I was away. Two boys." There. He'd said it.

"What?" She sat up stock straight facing him, an arm over her head with a hand still tangled in her hair, and her petite breasts bouncing up and forward. "Sasuke?"

Breaking from her green-eyed stare, he turned on his heel and stalked over to the table with the towels on it, certain he was about two seconds from losing control of a certain body part from seeing her in that pose.

He took just about as long to remember how to breathe. What the hell had that been? How could she have this effect on him anyway? Where was the vile loathing and the disgust he'd felt on the rooftop yesterday morning, when his mind had been pulled into that line of thought? Why did it all change when he was with her?

Sasuke shook his head, realizing that Kakashi was a lucky bastard. "I'm sorry. I'm really, very sorry I didn't tell you." He looked back, certain he had mastery over his senses again. "Why don't you soak, and I'll tell you about it while I clean up," he said, and handed her a towel.

She looked for a moment like there were about twenty ways she wanted to ream him up one side and down the other for keeping such a secret from her. Then her face softened, and she sighed, shoulders hunched forward, accentuating her helplessness.

"Fine. Explain. Keep an eye on me though, I might pass out and drown," she said, wrapping herself up slowly.

At this point it was all he could do to keep his eyes off her. Cold water would be a very good thing right about now. Lots and lots of icy water.

They got her standing again, and she was leaning more heavily on him now. Once she was positioned sitting on the ledge inside the bath, he went across the room and stripped down.

He flipped the pouch with Tsunade's scroll in it to rest on his back to keep it from getting too wet, and followed his own advice, sticking his head under the cold tap. Then he started talking.

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Sakura still wasn't convinced that she had woken up. This was just too surreal. Naked in the same room with Sasuke. Sasuke opening up to her about what was on his mind. Naked.

It was like those dreams she had when she was still a genin and she showed up to a mission in only her sandals and shuriken holster. There had been a point in her life when she would have paid good money for pictures of what she was seeing right now. Or for him to be in the bath with her, which was still a distinct possibility.

It was all she could do to keep from drooling on herself. Sasuke was and always had been a beautiful man to look at. He seemed so comfortable in his own skin; even the simplest of his movements seemed artful and full of grace.

His shoulders were mesmerizing enough that she was starting to forget she was supposed to be angry. She kept in mind though, it was a much easier thing to be attracted to him than to actually be in love with him.

She examined the myriad of seals and markings on his body, which drew out a map of his wretched life. The spiral of the the snake summoning tattoo took up one of Sasuke's forearms. Then wrapping around his torso was the seal which bound Orochimaru, to keep the snakey bastard from jumping bodies again, and holding his consciousness apart from Sasuke's.

That seal comprised of a circle on both his back and stomach, with a peculiar character within which she couldn't read, then surrounded by several triangles of complicated script. Jiraiya and Tsunade had created it together, to make sure their old comerade could harm no one else. The seal wound up his back and shoulder to tie in with the cursed seal he'd received from Orochimaru on his neck, and Kakashi's own small, but effective seal.

Sasuke was telling her a great deal more than she had expected him to. She already knew some of what he said, but was frozen in shock at other revelations. To even conceive of the darkness he had lived through was nearly impossible for her. It was nothing short of a miracle that they had brought him back; that he was sane even more so.

Sakura wondered why he'd felt the need to hide his sons existence from her. Or why no one else had told her. Theirs was a large village, but the shinobi community within was very tight knit. Secrets like this didn't last long.

Of course Naruto knew, because that was just how close those two were. Tsunade had to know, because Sasuke's comings and goings were under her direct supervision. She wondered what they looked like - Akiji and Yokino. Sasuke had already explained what happened to their mothers. It was horrible and tragic, but she didn't know what good it would do to say so or if Sasuke would appreciate it if she did.

He went on for a while - long enough for her fingers and toes to get prune-like. She closed her eyes for a second, and then opened them again only to see him drying off. She watched as he pulled on a long gray robe from the pile, and then gathered their things into a bundle. Had she fallen asleep? Her eyelids felt quite heavy.

Sasuke came over with another towel and a robe for her. His face was somber, and she noticed he looked as drained as she felt, as if what he'd shared with her had come at some great personal cost. She had nothing comforting to say, even if he would want that.

Sakura suspected not.

Her body was red as a tomato when she got out of the water, and she felt lightheaded enough to crumple to the ground for the second time in two days. He realized her helpless state, and got her wrapped up, to carry her back to her room.  
She felt something akin to tenderness from him, and it made her uneasy. It only compounded, when she considered the fact that he was engaged and that he knew perfectly well that Kakashi was interested in her.

Why was he being like this? Was he trying to sabotage every relationship he had on purpose? Was he really in love with her?

It was too much for her to contemplate in this state. Sakura hated being this weak, but there was nothing to be done except to rest. She did have to do a couple of things before she could lay down, which were very important.

"Sasuke, could you bring me my pack?" she said. He looked down at her uneasily after setting her on the bed.

So much conflict behind those black eyes. He seemed disturbed now, that she wasn't going to say anything about what he'd told her, but he went over by the door anyway and grabbed the travel bag to set it next to her.

Sakura found her comb, and promptly set about getting her hair in order. She wasn't going to be able to fight sleep much longer, and she didn't want to wake up with a bird's nest on her head like her teammates often did.

As she worked out the knots, Sasuke kept standing there, looking down at her, with a lost expression, waiting for her to say something. It was disconcerting. It was at that moment that she realized what he wanted her to say. His defenses were about as low as they were ever going to get.

She had him right where she'd wanted him so many times before, just waiting for a word from her...

No. She'd made up her mind months ago.

Everything she'd said before was the truth. She couldn't let him keep stringing her along. And he would. She knew he would. "You can go if you want. I'll be all right, Sasuke. Kakashi's probably wondering if you ran into some trouble." No regrets, not anymore.

"I told him I was taking a walk," he said. Which basically meant Sasuke would show up again when he felt like it. His tone was a bit too sharp though. Hurt maybe.

Sakura kept combing, watching him coolly until he turned away. "Sasuke," she said, as he grabbed his things and opened the door.

"Yeah?" he said over his shoulder, though he didn't look back at her. He had closed himself off again, she was sure of it, and she wasn't certain he'd ever let her in again. She decided not to feel bad about it.

"Thank you."

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Naruto jumped up from his bed as the door to his room was rudely slammed open. Sasuke strode in, looking like he had just finished using the bath, by his damp hair and unfamiliar robe.

For some reason the man was incredibly pissed off. This was nothing new.

"What happened?" he asked, just in case it was something important.

Sasuke threw a bundle of dirty clothes on the opposite empty bed, and went to grab his backpack. "I'm not going to tell you, so just shut the hell up."

Naruto rolled on his side and leaned up on his elbow, and said, grinning, "You know, you really are an asshole."

"So I've been told." He sat down and started pulling on his spare uniform.

Naruto flopped back on his pillow, smirking. "Kakashi says we're leaving tonight when that supply convoy from Yamimaki gets here to pick up stuff for his troops. He says they might have some undercover nin with them as guards."

"We already figured that out."

"Maybe we can catch one though and do an 'interview'. We're probably going to be moving north the next two days, once he thinks we've got enough information. So get some sleep."

"He's too cautious. We can get just as much intelligence when we're on the move," said Sasuke.

Naruto rolled his eyes. Boy, he was in an exceptionally bad mood this time. "There's a lot hanging in the balance; of course he's being careful."

"What's he doing anyway?" The black-haired nin was wrapping his legs, implying he had no intention of resting any time soon.

"Probably looking for you."

"Why?" Sasuke said.

Naruto laughed. "You were gone for a pretty long time, you know. A couple of hours. We already ate." Had he lost track of time? Something must have happened.

"Oh. Well, you can catch me up on what the old man said, right?" Something in his tone made Naruto think Sasuke didn't particularly want to talk to Kakashi at the moment.

A fight with Kakashi? Mm, probably not. Maybe it had to do with Sakura, or Kakashi and Sakura. Heh, well he had better get over it before they left. Seeing Sasuke sulk was almost as pathetic as seeing him have a tantrum.

Stretching out his arms, Naruto yawned in Sasuke's direction. "Nah. I'm going to sleep. Go find Kakashi if you want to know."

"Whatever. I'm going to go take a walk," Sasuke said, fastening his sandals, and was gone as fast as he'd come in.

"Jerk," Naruto grumbled to himself and turned towards the wall.

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He watched her with his arms crossed, rubbing his lower lip thoughtfully with his thumb as he leaned in the corner of the far wall. Sakura wound her hair up and then pinned it in place. She'd go to sleep soon and then he'd leave.

"Kakashi, I know you're there," she said, though she wasn't looking at the spot where he was standing.

Then again, she wasn't looking at anything in particular, since she was rummaging around in the bottom of her bag. At least she was paying attention.

His form resolved out of the shadows, and he glanced down at the small dark pile of rumpled clothes that were on the ground by the door. Sasuke hadn't looked very happy when he'd left - not the sign of a successful conquest.

Kakashi was already certain of his former student's feelings for Sakura, and his idiotic denial of them. As a team leader, he was very glad they were going to have to leave her behind because of her chakra exhaustion. Well, maybe it was just an exceedingly convenient excuse. She might be ready to travel again, as early as the next morning, but he thought it would be best for all concerned that she stay put.

Kakashi picked up her dirty garments as he walked by, and tossed them next to her medic bag, lacking a better place. He didn't want to trip on them on the way out.

"So why are you spying?" she asked.

He shrugged and sat down next to her. "It's what I do."

It was part of his job to make sure Sasuke was kept in check and close at hand. There were still people out there who were interested in breaking the seal on him and bringing Orochimaru back into the world. Tsunade didn't let the man leave Konoha lightly.

Coincidentally, Sasuke had gone to Sakura when he'd run off. Kakashi could hardly have helped but to overhear them once he'd tracked the Uchiha down. And once he'd started eavesdropping, it was always hard for him to stop.

"We had a fight," Sakura admitted.

"I had guessed that." Quite a fight too, from what he'd heard through the door. Kakashi hadn't listened to their entire conversation, but he had the feeling it had been a long time coming between the two. He just wished he hadn't have found them in such a compromising situation.

Disappointment had stung him more than jealousy. He felt relieved. Deeply relieved that Sakura hadn't been toying with him.

She shook her head, "I don't know what he expected from me. I made it clear to him where I stand," she said, and looked up at him a little uncertain.

"Really? Where is that?" he said. He could have mentioned that he wasn't doubting her, that he trusted her. Really, having her off-balance was a bit entertaining. Kakashi couldn't hold back a wolfish grin, which seemed to intimidate Sakura even more.

"Not in my bed."

He shrugged. "Standing in bed is rather unusual, after all."

"Kakashi-"

"You should rest. Although if you ever do need someone in your bed, do let me know."

"Pervert."

"Don't make me prove how much of one I am. You're so delightfully helpless right now." He tapped underneath her chin, and leaned down to kiss her forehead.

She moved so he met her lips, instead. "Oddly enough, I'm hoping you live up to your reputation," she said, letting him free from her rather enthusiastic demonstration of how much she was looking forward to it.  
Kakashi scratched the back of his head uneasy at her comment. He couldn't help wondering exactly what she had heard about him, and from whom. Of course, she fell asleep before he could get any further explanation.

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Sasuke made his way out through the cold winter air towards the wood that surrounded the town, moving over the rooftops and walls of Itsumidori like stepping stones. He really wasn't that upset - more angry at himself, and maybe a bit embarrassed that he'd been truly rejected. He didn't want to be around any of them at the moment.

It was late afternoon, a little past sunset, but there was more than enough light to do a bit of kunai practice. The clouds had passed and the purplish sky was lit by the rising moon. When he ran out of roofs, he moved on to the branches of the trees, and after searching for a bit, he found a suitable clearing. He marked his targets, mostly in the boles of the surrounding trees and started throwing.

The quiet and stillness of the woods calmed his temper after a while, along with the steady flow of his movements as he loosed yet another kunai at an even more difficult target. He had regained enough peace of mind to consider returning to the fortress, when he heard something in the distance.

Sasuke identified the sound as a group of perhaps fifteen to twenty men making their way through the trees on horseback, not far from his practice area.

He activated his Sharingan and quickly leapt into the closest evergreen, moving soundless through the branches to see if they were the group Naruto had mentioned earlier. Kakashi was going to be pissed at him for being gone so long. His teammates were probably prepping for the rondezvous at the moment, wating for him to show. Fuck.

The men were well-armed and carried lanterns with them, and it didn't seem like they were trying very hard to conceal their movement. Sasuke soon realized why they didn't have to worry about bandits or wandering beasts. The party had shinobi with them, he could tell just by the way they sat their horses.

Counting eight nin as the group passed, Sasuke couldn't see any markings on them or unconventional weapons that would connect them to a particular village. Nin usually didn't travel on horseback, nor dress up like ordinary caravan guards. To the unskilled observer, they would appear much less threatening, mere protectors of unspecified cargo.

Still, a group like this was nothing his own team couldn't handle. Or so he thought, until he registered the ninth nin. At first glance, even Sasuke's eyes had moved over the man's face like he wasn't even there. An all-too-familiar face. One that should be rotting with the rest of his body in the pit of the darkest hell with Itachi.

The lantern light reflected off the man's glasses.

Yakushi Kabuto.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X


	9. Splash

Chapter 8

Splash

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A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X

Prowling through the branches gritting his teeth, Naruto hopped from one tree to the next searching. Night missions were always the worst. Tracking became ten times as difficult; it was always colder and the darkness made it much easier for enemies to set up an ambush.

Well no, it really wasn't that bad. He did have the moon giving him at least some light, and since it was cold, the outlines of the trees and buildings were drawn sharply against the hills and sky.

This wasn't a mission though.

Before they could start any real work, they had to find Sasuke. On the Hokage's orders, his so-called best friend wasn't supposed to go out of shouting range from the three of them if he could help it. What a dick. That damn bastard never thought of anyone but himself.

Sasuke must have completely disregarded the fact that they were going to head out tonight. He was looking forward to the next opportunity to do violence to the Uchiha's lower body. Naruto realized the man was set in his ways, and no amount of beating was going get him to be more considerate. Still, it couldn't hurt to try.

Sometimes it seemed as if he'd spent all of his life chasing Sasuke.

Naruto finally caught the Uchiha's scent and signaled to Kakashi with the agreed upon birdcall. Sasuke hadn't gone far, but he was well into the woods, probably doing target practice. He rolled his eyes.

Kakashi appeared in a nearby tree, only to leap soundless as a shadow to Naruto's branch. "There are other people ahead that way. Not just Sasuke." he murmured.

Moments later, the faint sound of hooves crunching against the rock-strewn earth and the clink of bridles announced a party of horsemen. The light of several wire cage lanterns, which were hung on black poles, flickered up through the brushy needles of the pine he and Kakashi occupied. Most of the men who passed below were fighters, but they didn't have any markings on their faces or jackets.

No banners either. They were escorting a tarp covered wagon which seemed unremarkable except in its plainness. Were these Yamimaki's guys or a completely different group? Were they shinobi? What was in the cart?

Naruto looked back over at Kakashi, and saw behind him stood Sasuke. How kind of the bastard to join them.

He was masked and balancing on a nearby branch, his Sharingan visible like red coals in the darkness. Kakashi had a finger to his lips- or at least, where his lips were under his own mask - which stopped Naruto from launching into a verbal assault. He wanted to chew Sasuke out so freaking bad.

Every minute he'd wasted searching for him, made the mission that much longer, and reuniting with his family that much farther away. His son would have started the academy and forgotten his father's name by the time he got home.

Okay, maybe that was exaggerating, but it didn't change the fact Sasuke was a bastard.

When the three of them could no longer sense the horsemen, they all shifted to the ground.

The Uchiha looked grim. "Kakashi, there's a real threat here. I saw -"

Kakashi interrupted Sasuke. "Yeah, Kabuto. I saw him too."

Naruto looked at his two teammates in shock. "What? I didn't see-"

"It was him," said Sasuke.

"No way. He's dead!" Naruto growled, pacing a little.

That was completely impossible. Sasuke had parted the bastard's head from his body. He'd watched Sasuke limp over and crush Kabuto's glasses, and then savage his body with a kunai until Naruto had pulled him off. Kabuto had taken Itachi's death from him. There would be no forgiveness. "I saw you kill him."

Sasuke shook his head. "I know that! You're once again stating the blatantly obvious." He looked over at Kakashi, his eyes cold. "How should we pursue this?"

Naruto could tell that Sasuke had already made up his mind about what he wanted to do. It was probably a matter of immense self-control that he hadn't already gone after Kabuto - if that man even was him. Naruto still had his doubts.

Kakashi leaned up against the tree behind him. "First, we go and take care of our original business. If it really is Kabuto, and he's working with this group, he'll have a damn good reason. We'll have to see if we can discern that from the cargo, or where he heads to once they're in the city." He paused, tapping his finger against his chin thoughtfully. "Morokawa probably doesn't know who or what he is, even if they've met. When he admitted there were nin with Yamimaki, he maintained that he didn't know where they had come from or who led them - which I tend to believe."

"But how?" said Naruto, still flabbergasted.

"That's not important," Kakashi said. "Kabuto has tricked and betrayed everyone he's dealt with, why not Death? What is important is that he is here; whoever he's working for must have offered something that a man like him would be interested in."

"Just for the record - if there's an opening - he's mine," said Sasuke, his arms crossed, Sharingan flaring.

Naruto and Kakashi exchanged a glance. Why had Tsunade let him out of the village again?

"Let's go," said Kakashi, brushing off Sasuke's slip into his vengeful persona.

Naruto felt deeply uneasy. Kabuto had been one of Orochimaru's minions for a long time. What if that twisted medic-nin had been looking for Sasuke to try to release his former master? But if that was the case, why would Kabuto have tried to kill Sasuke back then at the cave when he killed Itachi? It was confusing, and the only two people who knew the answer were Sasuke and Kabuto.

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

Kakashi didn't like the look in Sasuke's eyes.

Well to be honest, he really didn't like Sasuke at the moment, but that revolved around personal reasons which had nothing to do with the mission. He could deal with that later.

Right now, though, would be a bad time for the Uchiha to decide to go rogue - not that he'd get very far. Kakashi was in possession of a failsafe seal that the Hokage had made - which Sasuke didn't know about - and which would probably kill him if used.

It was a last resort in the event that the man lost himself to Orochimaru or betrayed the village. The situation hadn't moved to that level, but there was always the chance. He didn't think he'd have to use it, but the fact that it was crossing his mind was unsettling.

They caught up with the caravan easily and shadowed them into Itsumidori. Kakashi watched with care for signs that the group ahead had noticed them and were looking for a better position to make a stand against their team. Not yet.

Sasuke had point and seemed to be keeping an eye on Kabuto. The Uchiha was still touchy where Itachi was concerned, and Kabuto had come between the two by finishing the Akatsuki member off.

Letting go of things had never been one of Sasuke's strong suits. His killing intent was radiating off of him, and it wouldn't be long before the other shinobi took notice. Just a little farther.

It puzzled Kakashi that such a notorious missing-nin had come out of hiding. Kabuto had essentially given himself the chance to start over by faking his own death, so why hadn't he moved to the Lightning Country or somewhere his face wouldn't be recognized? Or maybe he had.

There was no way to know what he'd been up to for the past three years without actually asking him. Which might not be such a bad idea, but first they had to catch him - and keep Sasuke from damaging him.

They watched from the rooftops near the warehouse where the group of horsemen had stopped, its stone courtyard bright with their lanterns. Morokawa's men had been made aware of the fact that the transaction would be interrupted and why. They had orders to clear out as soon as the Leaf shinobi arrived. Otherwise they were to act as if everything was normal.

Kakashi could tell by the posture of the man who went to meet with the cart driver that he was nervous, glancing around at the shadows. Not good.

"Kabuto slipped off," said Sasuke, whose natural Sharingan were considerably more sensitive than Kakashi's borrowed one.

"Fuck," said Naruto.

"Well they probably know we're here. Might as well pounce," said Kakashi. Now to make some mildly unpleasant executive decisions.

"Sasuke, I want you to try to track Kabuto. Don't kill him and keep an eye on our backs. I'll send one of my dogs with you. Naruto and I will take care of the others."

Of his two available teammates, Sasuke was better at tracking and pursuit in the dark. Kakashi was uncomfortable sending him, but he wanted to at least get a look at the goods Morokawa had planned to exchange his manpower for, and since Sasuke had a personal stake in catching Kabuto - or whoever was wearing his face - he was more likely to succeed.

Kakashi didn't want to take any chances though, and he had to keep some sort of eye on Sasuke's actions. The only choice was to summon one of the dogs. He hadn't called on Zasshu in a while and the toothy, tawny mutt was good for light support - not as good as Pakkun at tracking, but bigger and stronger. The pug was still healing from a hip injury, anyway.

He sliced his fingers on a kunai, did the requisite seals and slammed his hands down on the rooftop. The nin-dog leapt forward, out from the summoning circle with a small puff of smoke and the sound of quickly displaced air.

"What's up?" Zasshu grinned wickedly, and despite his informality, his whipping brushy tail betrayed his eagerness to serve.

Kakashi quickly gave the nin-dog a rundown of the situation. "Zasshu, stay with Sasuke and back him up," he said. "We'll be down there in the courtyard. Don't worry about me, Naruto's all the support I'll need." He heard Naruto grunt behind him.

"Right," said the mutt, chasing after Sasuke - who was already bounding off on his own. Idiot. Well, at least the Uchiha knew how to fight Kabuto. He'd have a better chance at beating him than Kakashi would, sad as it was to acknowledge. These other jokers however...

"Let's go," said Naruto.

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Resentment bubbled up in Sasuke's chest at Kakashi and at the nin-dog who followed close at his heels through the shadows. He tried to knock it away knowing the feeling was misplaced. He knew it was his own damn fault he had to have someone always looking over his shoulder, but he was still on edge.

Between the lack of sleep and the minor ordeal he'd just gone through with Sakura, his emotional state was not all that steady. His inner cynic decided that fate had thrown that corpse-stealing sycophant Kabuto into his path, just to make his life even more difficult.

"He's heading for the fortress," said the nin-dog behind him in a husky voice.

Not Kakashi's usual summon Pakkun, Sasuke wasn't even sure what this one's name was. It's body was medium-sized and it had a thick, light-colored pelt, though it was hard to say what that color was in the moonlit darkness. Its head was long-muzzled with pointed ears and narrow eyes.

Nothing special as dogs went, though it wore a Konoha hitai-ate and a blue jacket with a scarecrow's face drawn on it. Hopefully the beast didn't get in the way.

"Yeah." If he could just get Kabuto in range, Sasuke could catch him with the Sharingan, and bind him up with snakes. The medic-nin was fast though, and Sasuke wasn't sure exactly what the man's goal was.

It probably had something to do with his experiments with the dead. For someone who didn't like to kill with his own hands, Yakushi Kabuto seemed to have no problem dealing with the end result. Sasuke would wager his left arm that the man liked cadavers better than he enjoyed the company of live people.

"Kakashi said not to kill him," the nin-dog said, pacing him as they leapt closer to the high wall surrounding their destination. As if he hadn't heard the man the first time. Was he really that worried? Probably. He had intended to finish Kabuto before he'd gotten the order.

Now where did that creep go?

There! A flicker of white hair in the ruddy lantern light along the battlements. The guards were still oblivious.

"I know," said Sasuke. "Although, I think he's making a mistake."

"Think away, Sasuke-san. You don't get to decide. We're closing," said the nin-dog. This mutt was really getting on his nerves.

They watched as Kabuto disappeared through a second-story window in the western side of the main building. Sasuke knew where it led, and decided to take a route that had a good chance of cutting him off. He was definitely heading for Morokawa first. But was he there to get information from the lord or to assassinate him?

The contingency of protecting the lord from his supposed ally's nin hadn't been made. There was no reason to believe a shinobi on Kabuto's level might arrive with what was supposed to be insignificant cargo, though there was also no reason not to. Kakashi's mistake – no – Kakashi's blunder.

The nin-dog was running a little bit ahead of him, following the scent, and they made a blur through the hallways causing the lamps to flicker. Sasuke managed to knock over at least one maid, and smash what was appeared to be an expensive vase as he rounded a corner too fast.

Ignoring the squeal and crash, he was up ten, twenty stairs and then running again, arms straight, close to his sides.

Images seemed flash quickly past Sasuke: The family suites. Morokawa's chamber. Kabuto kneeling over the prone man in the bed, kunai drawn in the dim lamplight.

"You knew the deal, Takeshi," said the medic-nin, as the man gasped and quivered beneath thick coverlets.

"Please no. Please," whimpered the lord.

Kabuto didn't stab him, he didn't slit his throat. He stopped the lord's heart with his chakra, quick and clean, before Sasuke could even throw a shuriken. Still, he had to try. Kabuto dodged, leaping away from the bed, and took a defensive stance.

"Heal him!" Sasuke yelled, and rushed him, throwing Kabuto into the far wall with a chakra-infused fist. He couldn't concentrate power quite the way Sakura did, but he didn't need to throw him through the wall.

The white-haired nin adjusted his glasses on his face as he straightened to a sitting position. "Ow. Ah, well. Sasuke-kun, I haven't seen you in a while." His calm demeanor was irritating as ever.

"You heard me, coward." Sasuke advanced on him, and he heard the nin-dog bark from behind, as if to say 'Cool it'. Oh, he'd keep his temper all right. At least until Kakashi showed up. Then this lowlife needed to die.

"Too late. I managed to degenerate the tissue in two of the main heart valves, as well as seize the muscle movement. He'll pass before I could ever heal it all," he said, and smugly stood up, brushing himself off.

He was dressed very plainly, almost like an itinerant priest in a long white robe, dark clothing beneath. His hair still fell in a white tail, but was much longer. Sasuke looked into the other man's black eyes with disgust. Kabuto didn't flinch or even try to look away from his glare.

"So what was the deal?" Sasuke said, Sharingan catching his every twitch. Kabuto's baggy clothing helped conceal his muscle movements, but there were still signs, markers for the next attack Sasuke would be able to pick out.

As he pinned the nin with his eyes, he could see reflected dimly in the window not far from the medic-nin's left shoulder, that the nin-dog had leapt on top of the bed, and was now sniffing Morokawa's body.

He shrugged, "I don't see why I should bother to talk to you about that. You can't stop anything from happening."

"You really should have stayed dead, Kabuto." Questioning this man further would be pointless. Kabuto was about as flexible as a rock when it came to whatever ideal he happened to be holding dear to his heart for the moment.

"And I really should have killed you years ago. It just goes to show what we both get for being sloppy." It would be so easy to hypnotize him and send his snakes to twine around his skinny neck and choke him.

That look in his eye... that fucking grin...

Something in Sasuke snapped. He bit his thumb and swiped the blood down his tattoo so fast the snakes were already on Kabuto before he could blink. Of course he didn't blink; he was under an eye jutsu. The medic was trapped and the snakes squeezed...

Then Sasuke felt a pair of jaws close around his neck.

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Sakura dreamed.

It was one of those strange dreams, where she knew she was asleep and didn't try to wake up. All around her hidden in a haze just on the edge of her vision were figures moving, reaching out. Her usual dreams tended to be colorful and involve mash-ups and twistings of whatever she'd been doing during the day, and they got weirder when she was stressed. She hated the ones where her teeth all feel out and she couldn't keep them in.

This one was different. One of the first reasons she knew, was that Sai was there, appearing in front of her with his enigmatic smile and his what-could-have-beens. Sai was dead, had been for three years. She missed that smile. Painfully. She watched him fade and dissolve as she slipped into a scene from recent memory, sitting on the edge of a field next to Sasuke somewhere in Konoha.

She was leaning her head on his shoulder like she did with Naruto all the time. He didn't pull away and then moved, and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. He did. The face she saw when she opened her eyes though, was Kakashi's, Sharingan spinning slowly, hypnotic, turning everything red. He held her close to him.

He was touching her, his hand trailing down from her face, fingertips along her neck, her breast, over her belly, under her waistband, into her-

Sakura sat up sharply in bed, eyes wide and sucking in a deep breath. Her hair was damp with sweat and her left arm wasn't responding at all since she'd slept on it funny. She blinked, reoriented herself and fell back on the pillow.

She grimaced through the pins and needles as blood returned to her arm, and the arousal faded a little from her nether regions. Why had she dreamt of Sai of all people? They hadn't even had a chance to start a relationship.

It was right about then she remembered last night, and Kakashi's wary eyes and careful words. Kakashi really wanted her, and it occurred to her how upset he must have been. He wouldn't have kissed her like that if he wasn't. She knew how fastidious he was in his relationships, as with everything in his life. The dream was probably just picking up on some subconscious fear.

She was already afraid of losing him. She had already made a dreadful gaffe.

Of course, they were still testing one another, trying out what fit best. That last kiss would have been much more fun if she hadn't been ready to pass out. At the end he'd nipped at her lower lip and then rested his forehead against hers for a moment.

It had almost been like a promise that he'd be back. As if he were leaving. He hadn't said as much, but Sakura knew it was likely. Really, in her weakened state she should stay in Itsumidori or go home and not complain. She didn't want to be left out though.

The lamp was still burning. What time was it anyway? Without a window, a sense of time was lost to her. She moved groggily leaning over the side of the bed looking for her pack, since a clock didn't seem to be part of her sparse amenities and she never wore a watch.

Actually, she was still in the robe Sasuke had helped her into. It was really loose. If she moved the wrong way, her breasts would fall out...

She felt her face go red just as she put her hand on the expensive chronometer in her medical bag. "Oh hell - Sasuke."

It was a bit late to feel embarrassed. How out of it had she been to act like that - like she were drunk? Why had she let it happen?

She knew he had probably wanted to do more than help her wash, yet his hands had been so careful he'd held her like a porcelain doll. He'd been so consciously restrained, as if he knew once he'd crossed that line, there would be no going back.

The time for denial had passed. After he'd told her all of those things - of his children, of the little pains in his current existence and the dark life he'd bought into years ago - she knew he was in love with her. Really, really. She clapped a hand over her eyes and fell back on the pillow.

Dammit, that idiot.

She would never be able to return his feelings, not now, and it really wasn't because of Kakashi. Well, maybe a little bit because of him, but she couldn't say at this point she was in love with Kakashi either. Not yet.

Certainly, Sakura wanted Kakashi, realized that she already loved him in a way and she'd thrown all the switches within herself to be open to something more. She was fairly certain Kakashi was in the same place she was - well maybe he might be a little ahead of her, but not by much.

How she felt for Sasuke now was more like closeness of a sister to sibling, similar to how she treated Naruto and Ino. Family, beloved, but not a lover.

Years ago when she'd dated others, she'd learned a great deal about love, moving out of the realm of adolescent infatuation into more adult territory. The fact that it didn't just include joy and passion and intimacy, it also carried with it fear and anger and the occasional dollop of hatred.

It was more than just wanting to be with someone, wanting to be close physically. More than just words said in a breathless moment.

Also, on a certain level, the ideal of romantic love sat below the bonds she shared with her three teammates. Sakura trusted them each with her life, believed they trusted her with theirs and nothing was more valuable than that.

She was going to try to move forward with Kakashi. He could offer some things the other two never had. Kakashi had great sensitivity, he was respectful and polite and capable of being affectionate, he'd give her space to be herself and intellectually they were on the same level.

The more pragmatic part of her mind also pointed out that if the relationship progressed that far, he was from a good family and there existed the possibility of marriage and a couple of handsome and blindingly brilliant children.

Her eyes widened and she sat up again. When had that come into the equation? Sakura's inner-self - after long silence - poked up from the back of her mind and laughed. Just now, stupid. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

That was getting way too far ahead. It had only been four or five days since she'd first kissed him. How ridiculous, certainly she didn't want to be unmarried forever, but there was no way... Although she was almost twenty-three and all of her friends had children, even Sasuke - albeit unwillingly.

Her subconscious was definitely out to get her.

She got out of bed, and immediately put it all out of her mind – the whole dream, all of these thoughts, they obviously had to do with hormones and stress, and nothing to do with reality. Her knees were a bit wobbly, but she had gotten a good bit of rest.

Dreams aside, her body was being much more co-operative. She got dressed and let her still-damp hair down and ignored her complaining stomach. Time to check on her patient and find out if she really had been left behind.

X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X0X


	10. Open

Chapter 9

Open

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Coughing and clutching at his throat, Sasuke threw the nin-dog across the room as he tried to scramble back up, Zasshu's teeth leaving gouges in his neck.

He turned to face his enemy, the fire of the Sharingan in his eyes, but it was too late.

Glass shattered and flew outwards.

Kabuto was gone.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

By the time the group of enemy nin had drawn their weapons to attack, Kakashi's body was already moving, twisting, getting the high ground. Four kunai left his hands in a blur, each carrying explosive tags. He tracked the scattered figures with the Sharingan to loose another strike with blades, while trying to avoid incoming shuriken.

Registering Naruto to his right, he withdrew slightly. The other man jumped in close with the remaining targets, only to shred them with his one-million wind kunai jutsu.

It was over quickly. Between Kakashi's incredible speed and Naruto's destructive power, the fight seemed to have happened between the drawing of one breath to the next. Only one of the eight had been skilled enough to even touch Kakashi, and admittedly a kunai to the back of his knee had been more than enough to slow him down a bit, but that didn't make the attacking kunoichi any less dead.

There were five other members of the group who wouldn't be going back to their families, one who might not live through the night, and another shuddering on the ground who would never walk normally again, due to the lack of half of his foot.

There was still no sign of Sasuke, nor had he turned on his two-way radio but that wasn't surprising. Kakashi had a feeling Kabuto would head for the fortress first, and the two were most likely fighting by now. He wasn't too worried. Zasshu hadn't returned requesting backup, and he'd know it if the nin-dog had been injured.

Surveying the scene, he sat down on a low wooden crate and made a tourniquet above his knee. Once he was fairly certain he wasn't going to bleed to death, he wrapped a makeshift bandage around the deep stab wound. The kunai had been scarce millimeters from completely severing the left ligament behind his left knee, and had likely cut an artery since it was bleeding so liberally.

The pain was fierce, but there was still plenty to be done before he could rest his leg. He could see the warehouse workers fearfully peeking around the edges of the wide doors to the immense white-washed building.

Naruto was dealing with the surviving nin, binding them with a jutsu and looking at their wounds. He was almost completely unscathed, his bunshins once again taking the brunt of the attacks.

Wincing as his leg twitched a little, Kakashi wondered if Sakura would be strong enough to look at it. Even if he saw a local doctor, they didn't have time to wait for him to heal on his own and the injury would curtail his speed any which way he looked at it. He couldn't put any weight on it at all without falling over.

How could he have been so careless? Blood soaked his trouser leg and had run into the top of his boot. It was a shame this wasn't sandal weather. Getting blood out of his sandals was always so much easier.

Sigh. The stupid things he'd think about when trying to ignore his own discomfort.

He hopped over to the cart where three of the fallen shinobi lay sprawled in an ungainly 'u'. A search of the corpses would have to wait. He couldn't crouch without a great deal of pain at the moment, so he'd have to leave that to Naruto.

Instead he pulled the tarp back from the bed of the cart, revealing two immense scrolls suspended from a wooden rack. They were secured to the bottom of the cart via thick black chains. He couldn't tell from the exterior what the scrolls sealed, but Morokawa had claimed that he expected a sizable payment, as well as some trade goods.

The advantage of sealing large or valuable objects into scrolls like this lay in the fact that they could be transported much faster and far more securely than with a normal trade caravan. It occurred to Kakashi that Kabuto was capable of making this kind of sealing scroll, but he would probably be the only one who could extract the contents. Now Kabuto's presence made a bit more sense.

Naruto came over to him, his face cool and grim, wearing an expression similar to the one Minato-sensei had worn often in the last year of his life. Killing always deeply upset Naruto, as it had the Yondaime. The Yondaime had been better at hiding it, though. "Those two are taken care of for now; the others are dead. I think the one with the neck injury will be fine if we can get him to one of the village doctors," he said.

"Good. We should move inside then," Kakashi said, wincing and taking a sharp breath as he accidentally put weight on his leg while moving to face Naruto. Kakashi was willing to suffer bravely until Sakura could look at his leg. He hadn't lost too much blood, he rationalized. He'd been injured worse.

"Into the warehouse?" he asked, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder at the building.

"Yeah, I doubt there's a pub that's open at this hour." It was after midnight, and in any case, he doubted a bunch of blood-drenched ninja would be very welcome at any hour.

"Want some help?" Naruto said, offering his arm.

"I don't – Well yeah, I do," he admitted, and his friend helped him limp inside where the few additional degrees of warmth were quite welcome.

Kakashi asked one of the workers if there might be a table and chairs about, and the man along with another one of his nervous fellows peeled off to fill his request. He should have asked for hot tea while he was at it.

Someone had already gone to get a doctor and also to call in a few guards from the fortress, which was good since they would need to gather the bodies. Naruto went outside to bring in their captives, assisted by one of the burlier workers, and Kakashi sat down gladly as soon as a chair was put in front of him. He was already dreading the thought of standing up again.

The interior of the warehouse was a dark cavern, though one of the men had been kind enough to gather a few lanterns around the area where they had congregated.

He could see the glow of a lamp towards the back of the building too, highlighting the rear wall, a making the body of the barrels and crates into a black-silhouetted mass. It looked rather like a great humped animal. The entire place smelled of rotten cardboard, dry wood, oil and straw; it was dank and dusty and cold. A good place for an interrogation really, as an unpleasant atmosphere helped to intimidate the subject.

Returning, Naruto plopped the enemy nin with the half-amputated foot in the rickety chair directly across from where Kakashi waited and undid the jutsu that had bound him. The ruddy-haired, freckle-faced man was clearly terrified, staring at the silver-haired shinobi across from him, like a child cornered by a wolf. He was probably in quite a bit of pain from his severe and hastily treated wounds, too. This wouldn't take long.

The other nin was left laying on the floor, though one of the workers kindly covered him with a tarp. Naruto went back outside, likely to go search the bodies. Sasuke still hadn't returned. Kakashi leaned forward, grinning falsely behind his mask, while the other man leaned back uncomfortably.

"So what do you say, care to tell me who you are and why you were helping to transport contraband through the Fire Country?" he said.

"I-I- ah- I don't- I can't-" the man stammered. Considering how cold it was, the nin was sweating like it was mid-day in summer.

"Surely you can. You'll be in protective custody for quite some time. They won't be able to come after you." Or at least they'd have to visit him in prison to do so. It could happen, but it was unlikely.

"You- you're the Copy-nin-" the man began to stutter again, and he looked like he might cry. Man? No, he realized that this person couldn't be much older than sixteen. Though, by thirteen, most shinobi were considered adults. Kakashi had been through two wars and had joined the ANBU by the time he'd reached this boy's age. He didn't get the sense his prisoner had a comparative level of experience.

Seeing comrades die was never an easy thing to deal with. Being helplessly confronted by their killers was even more shock-inducing. Kakashi had been through both situations more times than he liked to consider, so he could sympathize.

"Hatake Kakashi," he finished for the youth. "And you are?"

"Sakashima Taiyo," he mumbled.

Kakashi's eyebrows rose. What a stroke of luck. "Sakashima, eh? Are you related to Sakashima Risomu?" In Hidden Rain village, the Sakashima Clan was currently the second most politically powerful family, even though they weren't known for producing particularly strong shinobi. If Taiyo was their clan leader's relation, he'd make a great bargaining piece later.

"What makes you think that?" the boy bristled at the mention of the name, and seemed surprised that Kakashi had heard it before. Rain village was small, but it wasn't that small.

"Well, very simply, he might want to see you again, if you are part of his Clan. There is that possibility if you cooperate. I had hoped your friends might be willing to talk when we arrived, but it would seem your orders were very specific. I gather from your team's reaction you were to kill any Konoha nin you met on sight, while protecting the cargo. That is part of what you were hired for, am I right?"

Taiyo remained silent, his face a mix of fury and terror. Kakashi looked away from the boy momentarily, hearing the sound of someone running towards the warehouse.

A rumpled-looking older gentleman with a white medical case shuffled in, Naruto following closely behind at a more relaxed pace. He took the doctor over to the injured shinobi, and then looked around with concern. Sasuke hadn't returned yet.

The doctor immediately knelt down next to the prone figure, who was breathing raggedly under the grimy tarp, and started to work. Even if the man lived, he wouldn't be going anywhere very fast. Just like his teammate, the nature of his injuries prevented fast movement. They'd still have to be held as dangerous prisoners. Kakashi had on occasion, crawled home himself with some exceedingly severe wounds; he had no intention of letting these two do so.

Naruto came over to the table and pulled something out of his pocket. He unwound a band of grayish cloth, until the attatched curved steel plate was revealed. He dropped the hitai-ate with four lines engraved across the face in front of Kakashi with a clatter. Well, solid evidence was always a nice inducement in these sort of situations. And it made him remember something.

"I found it on one of the bodies. I guess that means they're from Rain Country, huh?" Naruto said, glancing at the boy, his eyebrow quirking up. Taiyo had curled in on himself, arms crossed, clutching his elbows in his hands tightly.

Kakashi nodded and looked back to his captive. He pulled out a black shuriken from the holster at his leg, stuck his finger in the hole at the center, and spun it idly.

"The fellow who left this behind seems to be dead," he said, more to Naruto than the boy. He looked back to the Rain nin. "I guess I'll have to keep it then. We found this in the forest before the lot of you arrived, Taiyo. It seems like you and your friends have been here in Itsumidori previously. I wonder how long you've been working for Yamimaki?"

The Rain Country was far enough to the east that they could benefit economically from a conflict between the Earth and Fire Countries, by selling supplies and weapons. Still, that didn't seem quite right.

Something deeper was going on here; otherwise why send a member of one of their more powerful clans? How did Kabuto tie in with them? Maybe this boy was expendable, or maybe they had thought he'd be safe with a shinobi of Kabuto's caliber in their party. He hoped Sasuke had managed to pin down their old enemy by now.

"I don't see why that matters. I- I don't have to tell you anything. You know where we're from, so why don't you just kill me already," said the boy.

He shook his head. "Why would I kill you? I'm sure you're aware that even if you resist, I will find out what we need to know. We're going send a message to Konoha in the morning, and it's likely your village will receive a ransom notice within the next week," Kakashi said. "You aren't going to get out of this the easy way."

"They won't send anyone. Don't bother, I'm not going to tell you anything else." His voice quivered, high with fear.

"Yes, I think you will," Kakashi said, closing his right eye and directing chakra into his left. This would speed things up a bit as he needed to get his leg looked at as soon as possible - even if it was just by a normal doctor.

Unable to resist the hypnosis jutsu, the Rain-nin stared forward, his mouth slightly slack.

"So, tell me Taiyo, is this just a contract mission, or is what's left of your government actively trying to stir up trouble?"

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Walking into the daylit hall, Sakura immediately picked up on a vibe of agitation within Morokawa's household. Men and women were scurrying to their duties with anxious faces and red-rimmed eyes. A rush of alarm shot through her.

Had Sengaku had a relapse and died in the night while she was asleep? Why hadn't anyone woken her?

She went back and grabbed her medical bag, deciding to make for the boy's room first, but one of the servants stopped her in the stairwell.

"Haruno-san, should you be out of bed?" asked the brown-smocked woman.

Sakura didn't recognize her, but it was likely the staff was aware of the kunoichi who had saved their lord's son.

"I'll be fine," she reassured her. "Is Sengaku alright?"

The woman nodded. "He's sleeping yet. We haven't told him."

"Told him what?" Sakura frowned. Something had to have happened..

"My goodness, I suppose no one's been able to tell you either. Morokawa-sama was murdered last night."

Sakura grasped at the stone wall for purchase, to keep her knees from buckling. Why the hell wasn't there a railing? Konoha had railings everywhere. "What? Is the rest of my team still here?" she asked, trying to dispel her instant panic.

"They are. Hatake-san and Uchiha-san were injured, and I believe they are resting now. Uzumaki-san is with Tegara-sama," said the woman.

Tegara? Oh, yes, the fancy old steward. "Take me to them," Sakura insisted.

Just how strong of a force had they come up against last night? And why did she always miss out on the action? Too many questions and she was still feeling too groggy to make much sense of it. She wondered just how badly Sasuke and Kakashi had been injured. Hopefully this wouldn't tap her out again.

The servant led her up into a different part of the building and let her into Morokawa's chamber, a cold rush of air striking her as the door swung in. The lord lay unmoving in his lush bed directly across from the door, a towel draped over his face. A woman was weeping, kneeling beside him, gripping what was likely now a cold, stiff hand.

Sakura felt her heart sink, faced with cold reality. There was definitely nothing she could do at this point. She could see no blood on the sheets, nor any obvious injury.

From her right she could hear a voice. It wasn't Naruto or the others, but she recognized it – Tegara, the steward. "...within the fortress we can maintain a defense at least until late summer. Not an ideal outcome, but it can be done with our current supplies and troops. We don't know how well-prepared his brothers are, but if it comes to that, we are ready," he explained.

"I don't want it to get that far," said Naruto. His eyes flicked from the steward's face to Sakura's as she moved towards him. His face was so serious. Who had he learned that expression from? Tsunade? Sandaime? She felt a chill as she looked around the rich apartment.

"And that still doesn't account for Yamimaki trying to take his daughter-in-law's land. You can't defend on both fronts. We're going to stop this even if I have to go myself and tell them all to back off," he said. Typical bravado coming from the loudest ninja of Konoha. As if he could do the same thing himself, going north and south at the same time.

The large picture window that was set in the wall to her left had been smashed out. No wonder the room was so cold.

Then she saw Sasuke.

He had just looked up, frowning, sitting in a chair almost underneath the broken panes. His arms were crossed tightly, and his neck was wrapped in bandages. She could see blood seeping through. Hadn't the woman said he was resting?

Kakashi wasn't present, which led Sakura to believe he'd been injured badly enough to be stuck in bed. The Copy-nin seldom allowed injuries to stop him from working. She noticed one of his nin-dogs waiting there, not pug-faced Pakkun, but big furry Zasshu instead. Kakashi didn't usually call on the other dogs except for support, as Pakkun was his favorite; there must have been special circumstances. Maybe he was just here to listen in and then relay the discussion to Kakashi later.

She left Naruto to talk to the steward, and swooped down on Sasuke instead. The look in his eyes was odd. He uncrossed his arms, leaning back as she reached out, touching his face. She felt him flinch, though his body didn't move. Sakura tried to keep her expression blank as she sent out winding tendrils of chakra, to probe his injury.

"Tell me what happened," she said as she gauged her chakra, trying to decide whether or not to spend it on what seemed to be some severe bruising and long gouges in his neck. An animal bite? "What bit you?" she asked.

"That creature," he said, and gestured with his chin.

She let her hand fall from his cold cheek. "You can't be serious. Why would he-"

Sasuke's eyes flashed in the lamplight as he looked up at her, though his Sharingan weren't visible. "Apparently, so he could let Kabuto kill Morokawa."

"Kabuto?" Sakura was taken aback. Yakushi Kabuto? But-

"I had him," Sasuke said, his lip curling in anger.

"What do you mean Kabuto?"

"Just what I said. He's still alive, and he's working with these people." He glared murderously at the dog again, who seemed content to ignore him, scratching behind his ear with his back paw.

"So Zasshu attacked you, then Kabuto escaped?" Well, that explained the broken window, if nothing else.

She touched his neck, carefully unwrapping the bandage, sensing for signs of an imminent infection, and worked a low-level jutsu that would speed up the healing. The bite was ugly and swollen, but he had at least gotten some minor first aid. There was a sticky salve smeared over the bandages, which looked like it was helping at least a little.

Sakura finished the jutsu and dug out fresh bandages from her pack, and Sasuke frowned intently while she re-wrapped his neck. "You're sure it was Kabuto?" asked said.

"I'd know it even if I couldn't see his face."

"Sasuke, you're not still concerned about that, are you?" she said, hearing something familiar and undesirable in his tone. It would be too much to hope that Sasuke had learned anything from his first disastrous attempt at revenge, Sakura supposed. The look in his eyes was worrisome, but also made her feel somewhat disgusted. "We don't have time for you to act like this. There's a job to do."

He looked up at her, slightly surprised. A younger, less confident Sakura would never have called him on his behavior. "Why couldn't he have just stayed dead?" he murmured, just loud enough for Sakura to hear. "I just can't leave that sort of thing alone."

"You can, you just don't want to," she said quietly, resisting the urge to smooth a stray lock of hair out of his eyes. He said nothing, but looked away, wearing an expression that seemed suspiciously close to a pout, and she shook her head.

"You've come a long way. Don't go backwards, just let it go," she advised as she dug around in her medical bag. "I'm going to go check on Kakashi. You should get some rest, I can tell that you're over-exhausted. Here's something for the pain," she said, handing him a packet with a couple of pills in it. "I'll heal that more completely when I've got my energy back."

No reason to let scars mar that handsome neck. Though Sakura wasn't sure whether to smack him or to hug him as she stalked away.

She asked a male servant to lead her to where Kakashi was resting, feeling tense, since she didn't know what to expect. She could have asked Sasuke the nature of the injury, but she'd been so cross with him that it hadn't occurred to her. Taken back to the hall where her room was, she saw that Kakashi's door was diagonally across from her own.

Sakura knocked, hoping he was awake.

"Come in." Kakashi's voice was muffled through the door. He looked up at her, his heavy-lidded eyes looking vaguely bored, as she entered. "Yo," he said. "You're up."

He was laying on his stomach on the bed, propped up on his elbows reading one of his Icha Icha books. She couldn't see the cover so she didn't know which one.

Probably the first, since she knew he thought that was the best out of the whole series. He carried it with him wherever he went.

Actually, it was kind of cute that he was into these romantic fairy tales. Romantic? Okay, so they were fairly smutty and escapist, but they weren't much worse than the romance novels that Ino read.

The black robe he was wearing wasn't his and looked heavier and much nicer than the one she'd worn out of the bath yesterday, so she imagined his uniform must be ruined or being cleaned. Kakashi's long narrow body was covered to mid-calf, and she couldn't see any bandages.

He wasn't wearing his hitai-ate either and his hair was flopping into his eyes, making him look a bit younger. Sakura blushed as the thought crossed her mind that it wouldn't be that hard to get him out of that robe.

Really, this was not the time for these sort of thoughts. Even less than before.

"You don't look injured," she said, trying to keep her embarrassment out of her voice - though it was apparent by his poorly hidden grin, that Kakashi was very amused at her red face. He looked more like he was on vacation. All he needed was a sunny beach and a bit of rum punch with a tiny pink umbrella in it. "Where did you get hit?"

He sighed and rucked up his robe a little to expose his left leg up to the knee, which was wrapped tightly and looked like it had a healthy amount of gauze padding the back. "You don't have to work on it if you're not strong enough. The doctor wasn't too bad," he said, giving her a warning look that she wasn't to exhaust herself further.

"I'd like to at least find out how bad it is," she said. She pulled a chair over and sat down at his bedside.

He looked at her over his shoulder. "Really, I mean it. Don't wear yourself out again. It's bad enough that I got hit. I'm actually considering sending the three of you ahead, and staying here while my one of my dogs brings back reinforcements," he said, sucking in his breath sharply as he moved it a little. "This has got to be one of the more painful ones I've gotten in a while."

"Didn't you take any painkillers?" she asked. It was just like him to let himself suffer unnecessarily. Sakura took a pair of scissors out of her medical bag and cut off the bandage carefully, exposing the bloody gash. The doctor had put in stitches, stanching most of the bleeding, but hadn't been able to do much else.

"I can't. I want to have my thinking clear if anything else comes up," he said, turning back to his book.

"You'll heal faster if you give yourself a bit of downtime you know." She shook her head and focused on the task at hand, delving the wound with her chakra.

She could tell he'd been stabbed with a kunai by the shape of the hole in his leg. It wasn't large, but it was deep, intersecting two ligaments and completely severing the posterior cruciate ligament inside. It had also hit a major artery and had done damage to the meniscus down to the bone, chipping the top of his tibia.

All of this meant that Sakura would have to be at full strength to repair it, whereas a normal doctor wouldn't be able to do it at all without leaving Kakashi with a permanent limp.

"I've got something that will numb it locally, while I do some minor work," she said. She was at less than half strength, and would need at least another night's rest along with a couple of big meals to have enough power to be able to fix this. Maybe she'd enlist Naruto again.

"I know, that's another reason I didn't take anything. No need to be over-medicated."

"Yes, but it will only last a few hours. Will you take something if I give it to you?" She hated it when she had to wheedle a shinobi to take his medicine, but it happened so often she was used to their stubbornness by now.

At the hospital they all used the same excuses as Kakashi when prescribed something stronger than aspirin, even when they didn't have a mission immediately lined up. Thinking about it threatened to give her a headache. Was it a man thing or a ninja thing? Like they needed to prove how much pain they could take. She couldn't recall any of the kunoichi she'd treated fighting her over something like that.

"Let me see how bad it hurts tonight, and I'll know if I'll need it," he said finally.

"Fine. So tell me what happened. Sasuke told me a little. He and one of your nin-dogs seem to have had a disagreement," she said, as she prepared a syringe of anesthetic. Sakura wasn't going to play games. As tempted as she was to give him less than the standard dose for the region, she disliked the idea of him being in pain even more.

"Oh yes, that. The way Zasshu tells it, he lost his temper," Kakashi said, unflinching as she stuck the needle into the back his swollen knee.

"Why did you send him after Kabuto of all people?" Sakura saw his shoulders tighten at her comment. She shook her head and covered the needle, setting aside the syringe. She would have to wait for the anesthetic to soak in, and then she could do some more intrusive work.

"I decided to try to trust him, and it turned out to be an error on my part," he said, and she could practically hear him add 'again', to the end of his words. "The best thing to do now would be to-" he cut off his sentence, looking over at the door. A moment later someone knocked. She knew his senses were that sharp, but every once in a while it surprised her.

It was Naruto; she could tell even before he entered, just by the way that he knocked – vigorously and loudly. Zasshu and Sasuke followed him in, the Uchiha positioning himself against the wall, the nin-dog sitting where Kakashi could see him.

Naruto pulled over the other chair and set it down facing the wrong way, so he could lean his arms on the back. Kakashi stayed put but closed his book. Sakura decided she'd keep working, but she could divide her attention enough to at least listen.

"You know how Shikamaru says plans only last as long as they take to write out?" said Naruto.

Kakashi chuckled dryly, leaning on his elbow. "I suppose, but we do have some idea of how to progress. Since everyone is here, we might as well make what plans we can. Zasshu, you can go," he said. The nin-dog disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

Filling in the momentary silence almost immediately, Naruto laid out what he'd learned from the steward. "Tegara says that he believes Morokawa's brothers will move as soon as they find out about what's happened. Sengaku has military training, but he's not strong enough to lead, and obviously we can't stay here to help."

"Yeah, and he also mentioned that he thinks one of the brothers might have more support with the local populace and in other parts of the province," said Sasuke.

"And if that weren't enough, all of the communications that Morokawa had with the troops he sent north to Yamimaki are encoded. Morokawa was the only one who knew how to break them. Tegara knows he sent at least one pigeon out a week, and a message has already arrived by the same method, but no one can read it." Naruto said, shaking his head.

Sakura thought that she might be able to decode it if she had the time and energy to devote to it. She used to work on Tsunade's correspondence, which was always coded.

Kakashi nodded. "So for the time being we have to assume that Yamimaki has full control of those men. The neighboring province should be willing to support Sengaku if the Hokage and the Daimyo put some pressure on them. I've already sent home a detailed message to that effect with one of my dogs, so I'm not too worried. As long as Tegara can hold together a skeleton defense of the southern border for a few weeks, while the rest of their troops move north into Yamimaki's territory, things should be fine."

"I'll tell him what you said," said Naruto. "He doesn't want to try and fill in for his master."

"So what are we going to do about Kabuto?" asked Sasuke.

"I'm not concerned about him right now. You shouldn't be either unless it comes to a direct confrontation," Kakashi said.

Sakura couldn't see his face, but by Kakashi's flat and pointed tone she imagined his annoyed expression. "I managed to get a good deal of information out of that Rain-nin. I don't think the kid had any training at all against the jutsu I used against him - he didn't even think to try to close his eyes. Has he recovered enough yet to corroborate?"

"Nope, the other guy's still out," said Naruto.

Kakashi nodded. "Apparently, Kabuto is working directly for Yamimaki, who is our original concern. Most likely he gave the orders to Kabuto which resulted in Sengaku's health problems - probably to distract Morokawa and add to the political instability in this area," he said. Sakura's eyes went wide. It made a great deal of sense. "Hidden Rain's involvement seems to be only based around a contract, but that doesn't change the fact that they're breaking our treaty with them."

"Yeah, something doesn't check out – why would they risk it? Do you think there could be some sort of under the table thing that that guy didn't know about?" Naruto said, squirming a little in his chair.

Shrugging a little, Kakashi continued. "Maybe, he was pretty knowledgeable. His father is the head of the Sakashima Clan in Rain. I don't think he'd have been left in the dark about it.

"They were hired specifically to guard convoys between Grass and Fire country for Yamimaki, and there are at least thirty other nin from Rain, possibly more working for him. He's not prodding at the borders anymore. With Morokawa's troops, his own men and the conscripts he's gotten in Grass, Yamimaki is set to invade the southernmost province of Earth Country within the week."

"And we still don't know where that bastard is getting all the money to pay for this," said Sasuke. Financing war efforts over the years had bankrupted Konoha in funds as well as men several times in the past.

"Morokawa didn't know who else was supporting him and Sakashima only knew of the leaders in Rain and in Grass – none of them have the sort of wealth that he's been displaying.

"At this point, guessing isn't going to help, but there are only three people who I know of that would be willing and capable of it, and they're all good at covering their tracks. One of them is in Earth Country, one of them is in Fire Country and one of them is in Lightning Country." Kakashi scratched his head. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Sakura was currently reconnecting one of his ligaments.

"And how can we go after this guy now? Sakura's out, and you obviously can't fight," the Uchiha said, and Sakura felt the muscles Kakashi's upper leg tighten under her hand, as he bristled at Sasuke's tone.

Naruto half-jumped out of his chair at Sasuke. "You're one to talk, asshole."

Sakura nearly lost her concentration to her shock, and was glad that Kakashi's knee was so numb that he couldn't feel it when her hand touched down near the injury. She quickly pulled back, glad that the jutsu hadn't been broken.

"Calm down, you two." Kakashi said. "I've already decided to send both of you ahead of us today. Sakura and I will meet up with you once we can travel. I'm estimating we'll catch up with you in four days. I want the pair of you to stop any further advancement by Yamimaki's army into Earth country. In the meantime, don't hesitate to use any ability at your disposal – your summons, elemental attacks, the Kyuubi - and yes Sasuke, I do mean that too." The Mangekyou Sharingan was the only thing he could be talking about - something Sasuke had been banned from utilizing by Tsunade.

This time Sakura did lose her concentration completely. Sending him out with only one jounin to watch him and with permission to use his most powerful attack? Right after saying he didn't know if he could trust him - what was Kakashi thinking?

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she piped in, looking at Sasuke coolly as she said it. His eyes widened a little at her, and then he looked away from them all.

Kakashi looked back at her. "We don't have any choice. Somebody has to get up there and slow down the invasion, until the rest of Morokawa's troops arrive. Between Naruto and Sasuke it's still possible."

"Tsunade's not going to like it."

"She didn't send Sasuke because she wanted to, Sakura. She sent him because she had to. With him our team hits the hardest and the fastest, and that is what the situation demands, regardless of what the rest of the village thinks," he said calmly.

Sakura was taken aback, but it didn't seem to surprise either Naruto or Sasuke. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, probably making her look like a fish. She looked back to his injury, frowning. They were rediculously outnumbered, neither Sasuke or Naruto were as good at strategy as Kakashi, and the enemy had at least one Kage-level nin on their side. How could this be a good plan?

"We'll meet up on the border between Waterfall and Grass, at the fork of the two rivers on the edge of the Great Bamboo Forest in five days. Head out whenever you're ready," Kakashi finished.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

For having spent most of the day in bed, Kakashi was exhausted. It was probably a result of Sakura's healing, since it utilized his own energy to a certain extent as well as hers. That and he hadn't slept much since the night before.

Naruto had been kind enough to drop off a platter food for them, before he left for the border. They'd eaten together more or less silently.

Now, Sasuke and Naruto had been gone for the better part of an hour, but Sakura still was sitting over him, working on the wound he never should have gotten in the first place. She had to be near to passing out again.

He argued internally between telling her to stop for the night and wanting her to do as much as possible for him as fast as possible. They had at least a little time to recover - well, two days of recovery, two days of travel.

"Sakura," he said.

"Hmm?" she looked up, but her eyes took a moment to focus on him.

"You should stop and rest before you can't get out of that chair," he said, frowning at himself for not stopping her sooner.

Sakura seemed to look at her hands a little, and then sighed. "Too late," she said.

He couldn't help but laugh at her expression. "Silly girl."

Kakashi sat up, careful of his knee, which was still thankfully numb. He got his balance with one leg, half-sitting, and hooking his hands under her arms he pulled her over onto the narrow bed with him. "I guess that means you'll have to sleep here."


	11. Skimming Beneath

Chapter 10

Skimming Beneath

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

A/N: I don't own Naruto. This is a future fic where the characters are approximately ten years older. This means it's more or less an AU, with the timeline breaking off around issue 300 of the manga.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Through cold branches they ran. Naruto knew Sasuke was a bit faster than he in a pinch, but still they kept pace with one another, his friend just a little behind him, riding his shadow.

They hadn't encountered anyone yet in the forested hills, and he didn't expect to see a soul for another half-day's run. A trapper here, a hermit there - the northern forests weren't particularly habitable, or safe for that matter; demons roamed freely, along with the typical threats of large wildlife; and then there was the preponderance of toxic volcanic vents.

Bandits didn't work the area since it was so far from a main road or a town or village where they could spend their loot. Not to mention the stench of sulfur was omnipresent. It penetrated even high above, among the branches of the local gargantuan pines. Wearing a mask didn't help.

His body wasn't tired, but his stomach was beginning to growl and plead like his daughter when he was too busy to play with her. They'd only had a light breakfast that morning and it was well into afternoon.

Sasuke had to be hungry by now, too - but he always waited for Naruto to ask for a break. The man's neck had to be bothering him as well, Sakura had said she didn't have the energy to heal it completely.

Fine, he was making an executive decision. Naruto stopped short. "Let's take a dinner break," he said.

"We don't have time." Sasuke not having halted, was a few leaps ahead of him and so was almost shouting.

"My stomach says we do."

"Eat and run then. Your stomach isn't the one giving orders."

"Neither are you. If you want to play that game, I still outrank you, asshole. Anyway, I can't make instant noodles without boiling water, and I can't make boiling water without-"

Sasuke leaped back towards him, scowling and motioning with his hand. "Fine, fine, just shut the hell up."

They found a hillside ledge free of smoking vents and vegetation to set up their camp stove, and Naruto prepared his small meal there. His friend was plucking at his bandage, as if he'd like to scratch or rub his neck. Naruto laughed.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke glared at him, slipping his hands away from his bandage.

"You. You're not so great. How could you possibly get one of Kakashi's dogs to bite you? I've never seen them attack anyone but the enemy."

The Uchiha shook his head. "I lost my mind a little. It happens every now and then. You should be used to it."

"Seriously though, are you sure it was just that you lost your temper and not something to do with him?" Naruto squatted over the tiny stove and stirred his noodles thoughtfully.

"I don't know." He was sitting against the hillside, arms and legs crossed, and his face cross and pinched at the brow, as usual. He looked away and rummaged through his pack, pulling out a packet of almonds and dried cranberries.

"Don't you hear him every once in a while?"

"No. That was before Tsunade strengthened the seal."

Then being stuck with Orochimaru wasn't quite like being sealed to the Kyuubi. The demon liked to test Naruto every now and then - even after he'd conquered it through sheer willpower - and it was always chatty when he let it manifest.

"So I guess it wasn't that. You just seem like you've been more on edge." Gathering up as many noodles in his chopsticks as he could from the container, he slurped them simultaneously. Mushroom flavor, meh. Must have picked it up on accident.

"I was overtired and seeing that bastard grinning made me lose it. It's really that simple and that stupid," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh good. Then it wasn't my second guess either - you taking out the fact that you lost Sakura to Kakashi on him, possibly fucking us all over."

Sasuke moved faster than he could see, and threw him backwards - almost off the ledge, though hardly with his strongest blow. Ramen spilled across Naruto's jacket. "Mind your own goddamn business," said Sasuke. "It was a dumb reason, but not that dumb. If she doesn't want me, that's her loss. I'm not going to lose sleep over it."

Eyes narrowing at him, Naruto sat up. What a reaction for not being upset about it. Maybe Sasuke believed his own words, but he had definitely been losing sleep over something or he wouldn't have been gallivanting in the moonlight, blowing off steam with target practice.

Naruto picked a few noodles off of his chest and ate them, and brushed the rest off. The thin broth hadn't soaked through his jacket, but had left an ugly brown stain on the green material. And now he smelled the ramen but couldn't eat it. Oh well, he'd gotten a rise out of Sasuke, it was worth it.

He chuckled to himself as he gathered his things, then quickly jumped up to the top of the hill. From there it was an easy leap to the boughs of the closest tree, where Sasuke was waiting impatiently.

"Hurry up, dead last."

They didn't reach the border until well after night had fallen. Somewhere along the way, the rocky forested terrain had flattened out and gradually shifted into tall stands of bamboo. The moon cast eerie skeleton shadows across them as they ran, the cold burning what parts of their faces that were exposed with it's cruel fingers.

As urgent as their task was, they couldn't afford to stop for the night; now that he thought about it he wondered if his tiny lunch break really had wasted too much time. So rest was out of the question. Until they were within sight range of their goal, he would wait. Until the Fire Country and Konoha were safe, no more breaks.

But how much longer? Once they located the army and assessed the situation, they'd stop, recover and make what choices were necessary. Naruto had next to no idea what they would find when they arrived. He wasn't as naive as he'd been when Kakashi had first taken him under his wing, but neither he nor Sasuke had dealt as much with large scale battles - mainly smaller group skirmishes. Anything could be happening - a battle in progress, Stone-nin slaughtering the southern invaders, or even a parley. Or nothing.

He just hoped that between himself and Sasuke, there truly was as much stopping power as Kakashi had insisted. It didn't feel right with half of the team missing, though. He'd caught himself repeatedly wanting to look back for Sakura and Kakashi, to tell them to come on and keep up. Those two, they were much too far behind.

Sasuke stopped and and Naruto froze beside him, listening. Dammit, he'd been so lost in his thoughts, he'd almost missed the patrol of Grass nin who weren't much more than a hundred feet away. He unlatched one of his scroll pouches, slipping out the scroll Tsunade had given him. He wished he'd thought to go through it's contents while he had stopped earlier. If he couldn't manage to summon his travel papers fast enough, he might end up having to kill these guys.

Six shinobi wearing wide-brimmed grass hats slipped around them, almost encircling the area. Naruto glanced at Sasuke who was grinning with murderous intent. "Third line on the scroll," he whispered. "Between the sword and the winter-camo flak vest. Though I don't know if they'll give us a chance to show 'em."

Naruto fumbled and found what he was looking for, as one of the Grass nin broke into the invisible circle that they'd made. "You're surrounded. This province no longer has a treaty with the Leaf, so you'd better have a damned good reason for being here."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Sakura woke to a knock on the door.

Kakashi was already sitting up in bed beside her, his black-clad form completely blocking her view. He was reading, but he turned his head, glancing one-eyed at her, keeping his left eye closed, as he felt her stir. Bleary-eyed, she blinked up at him, wondering how long he'd been awake.

The corner of his mouth quirked up, and she realized then that the narrowness of the bed had forced her to more or less conform her body to his side. Under the blanket, she had draped an arm over his middle and with her back against the cold wall, her front was soaking up as much of his warmth as possible. He didn't seem to mind the intimacy - the room was exceedingly cold. It was probably against an exterior wall or something.

When he said nothing, and made no effort to get up to answer the door, she pressed her face back into the warm space between his side and the pillow. She was still very sleepy, and found herself unconcerned with things like dignity and propriety for the moment.

The person beyond the door knocked a second time while Kakashi continued to ignore it. Whoever it was waited, set something before the door and finally padded away.

"Breakfast," he mumbled.

She peered up again. "I guess one of us is going to have to get up. You got lucky. My door doesn't have a lock."

"Neither does mine."

She mentally kicked herself. Of course he'd have put a seal on the door to keep out intruders. He never forgot things like that. Even if there was no one in the building who threatened them, this was a considerably more conservative part of the country – two unmarried people in bed together might not be well looked upon.

She wiggled against him. "I suppose it would have been inconvenient if someone were to pop in and we were-"

He poked her in the side. "As if I'd do that in an unsecured area."

"You never know, emotions can get the better of people. As you've told me countless times."

"And you never listen."

"I do - just after I'm done being upset." She leaned back as he narrowed a critical eye at her. "Oh like you've never lost your temper or anything-"

He lowered his chin and kept staring.

"Well never when it was important. Although, I think Naruto's the only person in the world who's managed to do it to you more than once - at least in front of me." She plucked at the corner of his book.

He made a face, his left eye almost popping open in distress. "I'll kindly ask you never speak of that incident again, lest there be severe repercussions."

"As if I could defend myself right now," she teased. She'd fallen asleep so quickly and heavily, he probably could have done a number of unspeakable things to her and she wouldn't have even noticed. But her clothes were still on and she didn't feel sore in any odd places, so she'd have to say it had been a fairly dull night. "How does your leg feel?"

"Like there's an animal trying to chew it's way through it," he said.

Despite this admission, he set his book up on the table and limped up out of bed, straightening out his robe as he moved. He undid the seal and apparently a couple of traps to open the door; leaning over on one leg, he retrieved the wooden tray waiting there. A sparkling white towel was draped over what was probably a teapot and a bit of rice and fish - if yesterday's menu was anything to go by.

She noticed as he hopped nimbly back over towards the bed, a pair of crutches were leaning by the door. When had he gotten those? Sakura had fallen asleep pretty quickly, he'd probably kept himself busy last night. Why then, if his leg was giving him hell, hadn't he slept on the other bunk across the room? He would have been more comfortable without her bumping into him all night. And yet he'd been next to her when she woke.

Kakashi did have guard dog tendencies. Was something making him uneasy besides his injury?

Sakura sat up, running her hand back through her hair, watching as he did the poison check. There were two upturned cups and and two bowls of rice on the tray.

Well, it wasn't as if they were trying to keep it a secret.

She took her bowl and chopsticks as they were handed to her, and he sat down on the chair, the tray on the bed between them.

They ate quietly, but she knew he was thinking about Sasuke and Naruto - mainly because she was thinking about them as well, and he was frowning into his rice. "They'll be alright," she said, sipping the tea she'd managed to pour for herself. Her strength was coming back.

"I hope so. I'm not concerned about them being harmed so much as I'm worried about the situation becoming more than they can contain alone."

"Naruto's diplomacy isn't as bad as you think. And Sasuke notices the things he doesn't. Who knows, between them maybe this will all be over before we even get to the border."

"I'm not that optimistic," Kakashi laughed and sighed.

As soon as they finished, and he moved the tray over to the table, Sakura sighed and wiggled over onto the middle of the bed to lay down again. She would get this done tonight, and that meant as much as she didn't want to she had to sleep a while longer.

She watched him slip on the pair of cheap straw sandals that seemed to have come with his current outfit – though she didn't know why he bothered with the left one. "I'm going to check a couple things out. I won't be long," he said, hiking the crutches under his shoulders.

He was still frowning, and looked intent on something. She wondered again what was bothering him, and sighed, knowing he'd tell her when he thought she needed to know.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

It had been an awful night.

Once again Kakashi tried to remember why he had declined painkillers when Sakura had offered them. Some nonsense about needing to think clearly. As if he could think clearly when his only reoccurring thought was the blinding pain in his knee. Even Icha Icha Paradise couldn't completely push it from his mind.

Then there was the fact that he'd spent the night with a beautiful woman in his bed, who fell dead asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Not a great boost to his ego, even though his injury had sapped away any of his interest in sex.

He wasn't sure what he'd expected, though her company in the unheated room was certainly was welcome enough. Really, he was glad to have her close where he could keep an eye on her. Now that he knew the type of men Yamimaki was willing to bring into his circle - the type of shinobi anyway – he couldn't in good conscience leave her alone in such a weakened state.

Although, Kakashi was glad she wasn't awake to see him blush when she wrapped her arm around him.

To top off everything, he'd had to send out the two biggest idiots in Konoha to try to stop an advancing army without starting a bigger war than what might have already commenced.

The intelligence was so poor, they had no idea what they were getting into, nor he what he was sending them into. He wondered if Kabuto had anything to do with the intelligence blackout. Possible. Or Yamimaki was just exceedingly smart at hiding his troop movements and good at keeping secrets.

Kakashi wondered if the rogue lord knew just how painfully thin the Hokage's spy network was currently drawn. All he could do was hope those two kept their wits about them.

The gods were laughing at him.

Sometimes he wondered if it would be easier if he'd just laugh with them. Naruto didn't seem to have a problem doing just that. The blond ninja usually had his toothy grin and his middle finger prominently displayed when life tried to stomp him down. No wonder Naruto was always smiling.

Kakashi made his way down the cold hall, knowing he probably looked very disheveled. He needed to talk to Tegara, and since he knew where the household had their breakfast, he headed there.

The doors to the dining room were wide open, and sunlight beamed through the large diamond-paned windows, washing brightly over the table and the seated household members. The mood was quiet and somber, and many wore their mourning garb. Servants of various ranks were filtering in and out past him as he stood by the doorway, occasionally giving him curious glances. They carried trays heaped with food, others bringing teapots around to refill the myriad teacups.

Tegara was near the head of the main table. His legs were folded on a fine cushion, a grim look fixed on his face, while he considered to person to his left. Kakashi's eyebrow quirked up.

Next to the steward sat Sengaku. The emaciated youth was talking animatedly with a few of his sad-faced retainers, and he had quite a bit of food piled in front of him. The boy had a surprising amount of energy for one recently so ill.

Seeing the young lord made Kakashi reconsider his plan - something wasn't right.

He tested moving his knee, even knowing it was going to be impossible to sit down at a traditional table and winced at the sharp pain. Fine, they'd just have to come to him. He stopped a servant, asking him to pass on his request – where and when he needed the young lord and the steward to join him. They'd meet in the small parlor near the cell-like sleeping quarters, which seemed to have been unofficially designated to the visiting Konoha nin.

Confident that his message would be relayed, he went to clean himself up. His chin was beginning to show sparse stubble and blood still crusted his lower leg, making it itch like hell. While he was at it, he could steal some meds from Sakura's little portable pharmacy. She had to have something in there that wouldn't cloud his mind.

He had his own painkillers, but these were really designed for use out in the field. They also had the side-effect of making him a bit more aggressive than was appropriate in this sort of setting.

Ah, soldier pills, those wonders of modern medicine.

When he returned to the room, he saw that Sakura had settled into to middle of his bed and didn't stir an inch as he came into the room. He'd pretty much expected her to be out, but he was slightly disappointed since he wanted to ask her how long it would be until she could work on him again.

His uniform hadn't been returned yet, so Kakashi pulled on his spare set of clothes, secured his hitai-ate and tugged his mask up far enough to cover his chin. Then with what stealth he could manage, handicapped as he was, he placed Sakura's medic bag over on the table.

"Kakashi?"

Oh, she was awake. Or she probably had some sort of chakra alarm on her medic equipment. Why had he thought her defenses would have let him past? This was not the time to become a sloppy ninja. "Hmm?"

"Why are you digging around in my bag?"

"Ahaha, well I thought you said you had something for the pain," he said innocently, snatching his hand out. Damn, he'd hoped to make this quick.

"Yes, but you're not a medic, and not everything in there is labeled in layman's terms. What if you took the wrong thing?"

Unlikely, as he was very familiar with a number of medications, poisons and drugs. But it was her bag, and trying to act like he had every right to go through it was a bit rude. He brought it over, and sat on the bed next to her. She sat up and smoothed a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

"Ugh, seeing you limp like that is killing me." She opened a hidden pocket on the inside of the bag and sorted through a few small, square, waxed-paper packets, each of which had letters and numbers scrawled on the upper right hand corner.

"Imagine how I feel," he said, and grinned at her as she selected one packet and handed it to him. He tore it open, and without giving the contents much consideration he swallowed the pills.

She shrugged. "Give me a few more hours sleep and I should be able to get you walking normally again. I guess you're going to be out for a bit longer?"

"Nothing that will bother my knee. I'm just meeting with the steward and possibly Sengaku. He was eating breakfast in the common room with the others."

Her eyes perked wide. "Already? That's strange. Maybe he's got someone carrying him around. He shouldn't be able to walk - or eat all that much either."

"That's what I thought."

"Yeah, he's been starved. If he eats a lot of rich food, it will only make him sick. It will be months before his system gets back to normal. If you do talk to him, ask him how he's feeling and tell him I said he shouldn't be out of bed." She sounded angry, and he supposed she should be if her orders to the boy's attendants had been disobeyed.

"I can do that. Go back to sleep."

"I am. Don't be too hard on your leg. You might not feel it because of the medicine, but you're still injured."

She knew perfectly well that he usually pushed himself even when he was injured, and that she couldn't stop him. He took her warning to heart however, since any further damage he caused would simply make her job harder when she awoke, and they had limited time to spare.

"I know," he said.

"Good." Sakura laid back with a sigh.

The screaming pain in his leg began to fade quickly. Kakashi was pretty certain of what it was she'd given him, and that it wasn't likely he'd get a second dose considering how addictive it was. He'd be feeling good enough to climb mountains for five or six hours though. He looked back down at Sakura, about to tell her that he'd be back, but she was already asleep.

As he closed it behind him, he set two separate traps on the door. He wasn't taking any chances, Sakura was completely prone.

The first trap would simply seal the door shut and deter the general staff and anyone who tried to force it would receive a small shock. The second would paralyze anyone who attempted a jutsu to break the first seal. They were only disarmable by his chakra, but wouldn't affect Sakura if she tried to leave the room. He doubted she'd be up before he returned though.

He hoped such basic ones would be enough – considering the enemy he might still be dealing with.

Kakashi had been concerned since Sasuke had lost track of Kabuto. When dealing with such a man, a certain level of caution and even paranoia were healthy.

That Sengaku was acting so unnaturally had quickly added up to two possibilities in Kakashi's mind. Either the boy was trying to make an appearance to prove he would be healthy enough to succeed his father, or Kabuto was already using his body like a puppet. He hoped for the the former.

The steward arrived at the small parlor which Kakashi had called him to, perhaps a half hour after the jounin had taken his customary seat at the table, facing the door back to the wall. Not surprisingly, Sengaku hadn't come with him. Kakashi closed Icha Icha Survival and nodded to the man in greeting, but he didn't stand up.

"You wished to speak, Hatake-san?"

"Yes. Sit if you like, I won't take much of your time."

"That would be appreciated," he said, taking a seat across from Kakashi. "I have much to do, you see. Preparations for the funeral have only just begun."

Kakashi nodded. "Of course. Have there been any more messages from the troops sent north?"

"Yes, a longer message came by pigeon this morning."

"If you don't mind, I might have one of my team members look at the code, she's very good with that sort of thing. But that will still have to wait until she is awake. Speaking of which, I have heard that Sengaku is up and about. Shouldn't he still be resting?"

"Yes – and he is now, his little outing made him lose his meal and pass out. He's being a stubborn thing. Insisting that if this is his fate, he'll see it through."

"His fate?"

"Making war on his family. You see, the priests found something in my lord's robes when they were preparing his body for the pyre. We now have the key to those messages and also the signed and sealed contract he made with Yamimaki. Sengaku has them now. He's already been writing letters and making plans for reversing what his father started."

Kakashi sat back in surprise. "I suppose that's a good thing. Is he recalling the troops?"

"If it's not too late. Senko will likely remain loyal to her husband, and since her marriage and dowry were tied up in the contract – which Sengaku has no intent to honor - its likely there will be fighting. Most of those men as I've mentioned before, have declared loyalty to Senko. It's difficult to say whether they will return as adversaries or not," he explained.

"Does any of what was found give you any clue to why their father was killed? What deal he'd made with Kabuto?"

Tegara's eyes shifted, and he got up to go check the door to make certain no one was outside and then sat back down, his hands folded on the table.

"We weren't alone before, so I was not at liberty to discuss this. I realize my lord was not deposed immediately because of his relationship with the daimyo, and that such a thing might have occurred had he lived much longer. Over the past ten years many things have changed in this province, and the relationship my lord had with Lord Yamimaki became strong enough, confident enough, that he thought his plans with his neighbor were necessary and viable."

"I understand. Konoha had plenty of distractions keeping us from giving this area much attention over the past few years." Primarily the Akatsuki.

"Yes, with the new daimyo taking power while those black-coated criminals were on the rampage. And of course my lord's good friend thought to take advantage."

His eye widened slightly. Most people didn't know much if anything about the Akatsuki other than vague horror stories of monsters with black and red cloaks. There were rumors that used to come out of the Rain country before Akatsuki were eliminated, and the rain more or less stopped falling all of the time. This man definitely kept up on the local gossip and followed the papers.

"But Morokawa was reticent and soon after I'm sure was when Sengaku became ill," said Kakashi.

The advisor nodded. "And that man you speak of who murdered my lord, has been present for all of their meetings. I don't know all of the details, but I know one of the things negotiated for was the treatment of the casualties. That man wanted all of the injured and dead transported to a facility within Yamimaki's lands. For what purpose I don't know, but by your expression I suppose you might. I never approved of it, but my lord had made up his mind."

Kakashi was frowning. "One more tiny piece in place. Kabuto probably killed your master for the simple fact that he was dealing with us now. He'd probably still be alive if he'd turned us away at the door. Of course then we'd have been forced to use very different tactics." And then we might have eventually killed him ourselves, he continued in his head.

"I understand. Sengaku I'm certain will cooperate with you in any way he can, as will I."

"Good. I need to read the correspondence he intends to send out then. If he wants to smooth things over with the daimyo he's going to need to use very specific language. And he'll need to send a message to both of his uncles to stay put. I can guarantee this place is going to be crawling with men from the capital and possibly another contingent from Konoha within the next week or so.

"You have about that much time to make sure your people know they aren't being invaded but that they're going to be uncomfortable for a while because of what Lord Morokawa did. I'll leave a report with some recommendations, but ultimately it's up to the daimyo's officers who arrive to decide how they'll deal with you. I'm going to tell Sengaku the same thing."

He did. Once he'd secured an audience – which was mainly just a maid coming to alert him that the boy was awake.

Sengaku sat behind a heavy wooden desk wrapped in robes and blankets until his arms were barely mobile. He was only too eager to share the decoded messages with Kakashi.

"Read this one first, it's the most interesting." the young lord said, passing it to him. Sengaku's eyes had a different light to them now. He looked feverish, but determined. Still sickly, but very much alive.

Kakashi did find the message very interesting. If it was accurate the Grass Country was now involved in a civil war. Men from the Fire Country provinces were to exercise extreme caution in border crossings, keeping as far north as possible. Loyal men from the Grass would escort all caravans over secured roads. Informed scouts on either side of the border would provide guidance to the crossing points. Interesting indeed.

Civil war with the local nin on the side of the rebels – since Yamimaki had bought out the leadership - meant that this entire situation was going to get very messy very fast.

And Naruto and Sasuke had probably crossed into the Grass from the south.

Kakashi read the rest of what Sengaku provided, learning that not only had Yamimaki diverted five hundred men to the large village of Kuzutora to defend against rebels in the last week, but that none of the Grass nin were supporting him. However, a small faction of Stone nin were – along with the paid help of a few other fellows from Rain village. Finally there was evidence.

When Kakashi finished he gave Sengaku his thanks, and asked him a question. "I and the rest of my team will be leaving the day after next. I'm just curious, if it is possible, do you want your sister returned home alive?"

Sengaku was silent for a long moment, and shook his head. "She chose her own fate. If she were to return, I would attempt to forgive her, but I do not foresee her throwing herself upon my mercy. Don't expend any extra effort in her regard," he said.

There was a familiar hardness in his eyes which Kakashi saw frequently among the denizens of Konoha, more specifically the shinobi. He wondered if the boy would regret his decision, but he knew it was not his place

to argue.

He nodded and left Sengaku, deciding it was time to wake Sakura. She was going to have to heal him completely, which would allow him break into Tegara's personal rooms tonight. Maybe his intentions were good, but he'd been in as deep as his master.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Five seconds and everyone but he and and Naruto would be dead. Four seconds.

Three seconds. Two.

Naruto put his hand in front of Sasuke's eyes. "Stop it Sasuke. They want to talk."

His lip twitched. "Make it quick. We don't have time for this."

Glaring back at his partner, Naruto produced his papers and shoved them in the Grass-nin's face.

"Not too long ago this was approved by the leader of your Clan, and I don't see why he would change his mind in the space of a week. We're en route to the Earth Country, we have no business with you, and have no intention if harming anyone in this country - unless we're attacked first. Step aside and we'll quickly make our way out of your lands."

"How do we know you're not just going to aid that invader? We can't let you pass, we have our orders." The man gave a signal, and the group surrounding them began converging, while the speaker began making seals.

Not good.

"Naruto-"

He watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto shook his head in frustration and broke out a couple of tails, instead of using his bunshins.

He typically did that when there was a genjutsu-user present- something to do with Kyuubi giving him advance warning, and in trade letting the monster fight. Genjutsu didn't affect Sasuke as easily, but he knew now to watch for it.

"Don't kill them," Naruto growled, and leaped out of the way, just as a winding bunch of roots burst out of the ground beneath him. Sasuke moved well away before the jutsu could reach him, racing among the shadows.

Fine.

He wouldn't kill them. But they might wish they were dead. The three that managed to close with him first got a taste of Chidori Nagashi. Just enough to knock them down for a minute. The earth shook again, the bamboo trembling in the darkness.

The attack missed badly and he wanted to laugh. Who did these people think they were? Sasuke was too fast for them, the Sharingan breaking through an illusion which one of the fighters seemed so confident in, that he was able to disable the man with a basic kunai-butt to the temple after slipping up behind him. He hamstrung the next one.

Naruto had managed to herd the other four close together. Too easy. Now he'd break out the whirlwind - just enough to knock them out.

Sasuke grinned to himself and stood back to watch.

They weren't pursued. Either the group realized what they were dealing with, or they went back for reinforcements. Sasuke couldn't have cared less. His exhaustion was nearly overwhelming now. It was good that he hadn't tried anything big. Even the little bit of elemental manipulation he'd done, was enough to powerfully remind him he hadn't slept in the better part of three days.

Naruto's face was grim and Sasuke guessed he had hoped to get to their goal without incident. And it wasn't much further. The northern border of the Grass Country was a harsh place, and winter was coming harder and faster here. They moved fast as they were able through the rough land.

Tracking down the larger part of Yamimaki's army wasn't difficult. Large traveling groups always left signs of their passage, even ones that had nin among their numbers. They'd been prepared for the possibility of enemy nin. And they were near, just not with the main camp.

Less than a hundred shinobi, who wore no clan or village markings huddled in well camoflauged tents about a mile to the west of the army. He and Naruto had managed to avoid numerous traps and alarms which had been littered throughout the jagged cold terrain, and this time the scouts as well.

When they finally decided to make camp it was well away from the enemy, two ridges away in what looked like an abandoned bear's den. No fresh animal bones or scat, so it was probably a safe place for at least one night. Sasuke set a simple illusion over the opening, making it look like a solid rock wall.

They broke out their equipment scrolls and cherry-picked the bits and pieces they thought they'd need. Sasuke was only too glad to trade out his regular gear for the warmer garments. It was also nice to have a sword again, even if he didn't really need it. It was no Kusanagi, but he wasn't about to go try to dig it out from beneath a hundred thousand tons of rock. Too many bad memories.

"You get first watch," he said laying out his bedroll, as he saw Naruto digging through the ration bag he'd just plucked from his scroll. "I think I'm going to play dead for a while."

And maybe in the morning he'd have some of his sanity back.


End file.
